Ignis
by KuroRinkusu
Summary: She said she joined the Hunter Exam to test her ability. But her actual reason is an entirely different one from what she stated. After a vow she made to herself, failing wasn't an option. It's either free or forever locked away. The quartet she met there drove her to do better and to become stronger to fight her inner demon. Though, would she fail to control it? [Slow romance]
1. Chapter 1

The house was on fire.

Yes fire.

Fire that flickered, burned, scorched, licked wooden frameworks with hungry lashing crimson-orange tongue. People quickly alerted the fire department while some called the police.

Suddenly…

 **Crash!**

A window was smashed into pieces, glass shattered everywhere as a girl tumbled out of the window and landed gracelessly on bushy plant. Her feet were bleeding when she accidentally stepped on the glass shards. She walked wobbly and was greeted by the sight of her burning house. Her eyes widened in amazement.

The sight of the burning house was gorgeous. But the house was not important. It was the fire.

Fire sparkled and flashed and flickered and created soft shadows of cinders and ashes in it's destruction wake. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

One arm gingerly supported her fractured ribs and broken arm, resulted from the fall. And not only that, her body were aching but she choose to ignore them. She continued to stare when suddenly her legs felt like jelly and she slumped to the ground.

She scooted closer to the house and extended her uninjured arm.

Trembling fingers were outstretched. Now if she could only held and cradled tenderly those gorgeous thing.

Her gaze were unfocused but wholly absorbed at the sight as her fingers twitched, tempted to touched it. A matchbox was clutched tightly in her other hand. She glanced down and grinned gleefully.

She had caused the fire.

And she wanted to see the beautiful sight again.

Then the police found her.

* * *

 **-5 years later-**

* * *

Sharp orange colored eyes surveyed the surroundings. A girl sat cross legged in one of the darkest corner in the tunnel, throwing a matchbox up and down with a hand.

 _Up…down…up…down…_

Some people inside the tunnel were watching her but she wasn't bothered even the slightest. Her black jacket hood shielded her face from them. Judging from her androgynous body, it will be kinda hard to tell if she is a boy or a girl from a distance.

She glanced down at a number tag pinned to her white T-shirt. Number 210 was printed on it. She caught the matchbox before shoving it into her jacket pocket and she frowned.

The Hunter Exam.

It was said that the exam was very hard. Many people faced their end in this place. Some passed and some became disabled. But the result after their suffering was worth it at least. Their dreams and goals could be reach, either it was good or bad.

"Hello, you must be a rookie," a male voice said.

The girl looked up and came face to face with a man that highly resembled a pig, a number tag with number 16 was pinned on his shirt. She quickly memorized it.

"What do you mean?" She questioned. The man seems to froze in confusion before blinking his eyes.

"You're a girl." The girl raised an eyebrow and chose to ignore his remark.

"You haven't answered my question," the girl said. The man smiled nervously.

"Ah yes, sorry. Anyway you're new right?" The girl nodded.

"How do you know that?"

"Actually, this is my 35th time taking the Hunter Exam so I guess you could say that I'm a veteran." The man scratched the back of his neck and let out a sheepish laugh ,"although I've never actually passed it as you can tell."

"Is it that hard?"

"Uh yeah…I guess." The man rummaged his bag and took out an orange can.

"You must be thirsty right? Here, I have an extra orange juice if you want." The man handed her an orange can. She stared at the can suspiciously.

"Thanks but no, I brought my own water bottle," the girl said and raised a plastic bottle.

"It won't hurt to have another drink right?" The man urged.

"Yeah but still no, I don't like orange juice anyway," the girl said.

The man continued to persuade her until she finally gave in. After she reluctantly accepted the juice, the man quickly scurried away. The girl stared at the can before putting it beside her. She closed her eyes, attempting to drift off to sleep only to be interrupted.

"Can I sit here?" A voice asked.

The girl opened her eyes, annoyed and found a boy with silver hair and dark blue eyes, carrying a yellow skateboard standing in front of her. A number tag was pinned on his chest with the number 99. She blinked and she nodded slowly, her eyes narrowing a bit.

"Sure."

"Thanks." The boy slumped down next to her and noticed an orange can beside her.

"Can I have that ?" He pointed at the can. The girl handed him the can. He opened the can and started drinking it. Once he's done, he set the can beside him and wiped his mouth with his shirt sleeve.

"The can has laxative or poison in it actually," he said while grinning at the direction the man scurried away. She blinked, dumbfounded and when realization sank it, her face paled.

 _Poison ?!_ She thought, clearly horrified. The boy seems amused by her reaction.

"You don't know?" The girl huffed and crossed her arms on her chest.

 _Like hell I know_ …

"No, I don't."

"If you know it was poisonous, why did you drink it then?" The girl continued. The boy shrugged.

"I'm immune to poison so drinking it won't have any effect to me," he explained. The girl's eye twitched.

"That's…very convenient."

"Yep, by the way I'm Killua," he said and extended his hand. The girl stared at his hand for a few seconds, wondering if she should shake it or not. She grabbed his hand and shook it slowly.

"I'm Sora."

* * *

 **A/N: Hi~ hope you enjoy this story. The next chapter will be updated soon…I hope. My updates are random, please be patience *bows 90○ degrees* Feel free to review, follow or favorite this story. I would love to hear your opinion and maybe tips so I could improve. By the way, this story is based on 2011 anime.**

 **Bye~**


	2. Chapter 2

Sora stared at the crowd of people where Killua had disappeared into. After they introduced each other, Killua had stood up and left, claiming that he wanted to check the other examinees and asked more juices from the pig man. She had raised an eyebrow at that. Sora averted her gaze to the elevator door that was opened just now.

There were a man carrying a briefcase with circular spectacles on his nose, a blonde hair teen boy? Or is it a girl? Sora wasn't sure. And lastly, a boy with very spiky black hair entered the tunnel.

The same green blob that approached her earlier **("what blob wear a suit?" She had mused back then.)** appproached them and gave them their number tag. 403, 404 and 405 respectively.

The pig man, which she didn't bother learning his name approached the newly entered group with three cans of orange juice and began chatting with them.

The pig man introduced some of the examinees as Sora watched them carefully before her attention was caught by a scream from a man whose arms were turning into flower petals.

"Oh my, how peculiar, his arms seem to be turning into flower petals. No smoke and mirrors here," a guy with pink hair said. His appearance closely resembled a magician or a clown.

"Do take care, when you bump into someone, you should apologize," he continued.

Everyone in the tunnel cautiously stared at him including Sora. Cold sweat slid down from her cheek when she felt his bloodlust.

'I should stay away from that guy,' she thought as she turned her attention back to the group.

The pig man gave them 3 orange can like earlier and to her amusement, the black haired boy immediately spat out the juice as soon as it entered his mouth.

The blonde teen boy, Sora decided that he is a boy, dumped the content of his can while the man with briefcase spat out his drink too. The boy then commented something that Sora didn't bother to hear and the pig man apologized before quickly scurrying away for another victim.

Sora, feeling content from the sight earlier, stood up from her seat and picked up her sling bag which only consisted of her phone, a bottle of water, another bottle with a yellowish liquid and spare clothes.

She slung her bag across her shoulder and dusted the back of her shorts. Her hands immediately flew to her ears and Sora groaned when a really loud ringing noise suddenly blared out.

 **Ring!**

When the noise died down, she slowly uncovered her ears and saw a man without…a mouth carrying…something that looks like a mouth.

 _The hell…?_

My name is Satotz and I'm First Phase examiner," the man introduced himself and began to…walk. Is that walking? Or skipping? Sora didn't bother to know.

The other examinees began jogging including Sora who jogged slowly among the crowds, preferably being behind than in the front.

"Please follow me, I'll lead you to the place where the Second Phase will take place," the man explained.

"But what about the First Phase?" Someone asked from the crowd. Sora noticed the one who asked was the bald ninja who was very proud of being a ninja.

"It has already been proceed," Satotz answered and he said nothing afterward. Silence soon followed. But something kept bugging her.

 _How the hell can he speak when he has no mouth?!_

* * *

It has been a few hours since Satotz picked up his speed and the examinees have started to run. Sora was panting slightly, sweat dripping down from her head.

She tugged on her hood, debating whether she should take it off or not and choose not to when she saw Killua skating past her although the white haired boy didn't noticed her.

"OY KID! THAT'S NOT ALLOWED! THAT'S CHEATING!" A male voice suddenly erupted.

Sora's eye twitched and she looked back to see the man with the briefcase, pointing an accusing finger at Killua. Killua merely looked back and ponder for a moment, debating whether to answer or simply ignoring his words. At the end, he choose to answer with a simple…

"Why?"

"WHY YOU SAID? THIS IS AN ENDURANCE TEST!" The man continued to shout. Sora winced at the loudness.

 _Calm down dude, lower down your voice_...

"You're wrong, Leorio-san, Satotz-san only told us to follow him," the black haired boy spoke up. Well that boy got a point.

"GON, WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?" The man, who's now identified as Leorio protested. The blonde teen sighed and silently edged away from them. Killua stared at the black haired boy or Gon for a bit before slowing down until he was skating in front of Gon.

"You, how old are you?" Killua asked. Gon blinked.

"Eh? I'm 14 years old."

"I guess I'll run to," he muttered. He proceed to flip his skateboard in the air then grabbed it. After that, he tucked it under his arm and started to jog beside Gon.

"That's so cool!" Gon said, excited.

"I'm Killua, 14 years old, you?"

"I'm Gon!" Killua grinned at him.

Killua then averted his gaze from Gon and seemingly noticed Sora who was jogging not far from there. Gon followed his gaze. Sora who feels that she is being stared at, looked at both boys who were staring at her.

"What?"

"Nothing, just want to know your age and it seems like we meet again," Killua said with a cheeky smile on his face. Sora sighed and smiled lightly, barely visible in the dark tunnel.

"I'm 14."

Gon grinned at her before introducing himself and the two person behind him. The blonde teen boy, Kurapika and Leorio. While Gon was introducing them enthusiastically, Sora has moved nearer and was now running beside them, listening closely. It seems like Gon enthusiasm was contagious, Sora can't help but let her smile broadened as she introduced herself.

"I'm Sora, nice to meet you three."

* * *

Hours has past since Leorio's outburst. The said man was now panting heavily.

"Hah, hah, hah." Leorio fell on his knees, trying to catch his breath and dropped his briefcase in a loud 'clank'! The sound make Sora and Gon instinctively looked back. Gon stopped when he saw Leorio all beat and sweating. While Sora stopped a few steps after him and Killua stopped as well but a few steps ahead from them.

"Oi Gon, just forget about him, let's keep going," Killua said. Sora glanced at him before looking back to Gon, who's staring at Leorio firmly.

She looked at Leorio and felt a bit worry about his condition. Leorio caught their gazes before mumbling something that sounds like 'I won't give up' and stuff about what he'll get if he passed the exam. He took a deep breath and went into a full head-on sprint.

"GAH! SCREW THIS! I'M GOING TO BE A HUNTER!" He yelled to no one or maybe to himself? And left, trailing dust behind him. Sora blinked and pointed at the briefcase that was left behind.

"Gon, he forgot about that." Gon then grabbed his fishing pole that was strapped to his bag and proceed to swing it to Leorio's briefcase. The hook wrapped itself around the handle and flew toward the group when Gon jerked it. Sora eyes widened.

"Cool!" Killua and Sora said in amazement, simultaneously. Sora's eyes were shining, literally. Gon grinned at them.

"Let me try that later," Killua said as they ran back to catch up with the other examinees.

"Only if you let me borrow your skateboard," Gon said while pointing at the tucked skateboard. Killua smirked.

"Deal!" Gon turned to Sora.

"Do you want to try it too?" Sora shrugged.

"Sure if you'll let me since I don't have anything interesting for you to borrow," Sora explained although inside she wanted to try it so badly.

"Of course you can!" Gon said.

"Ehh ?! You let her try for free? That's unfair!" Killua whined. Sora stuck her tongue out childishly but agreed that it was unfair. An idea suddenly dawned her.

"You can try my weapons if you want?" Gon tilted his head adorably.

"Weapons?" Sora nodded and showed him a pair of steel tonfa that were strapped to her belt earlier.

"Cool! Showed me how to use them later okay?" Gon said enthusiastically.

"Of course!" She said, grinning at him.

"Why didn't I see your weapons earlier?" Killua said, eyeing the tonfa. A mysterious glint in his eyes.

"You immediately walked away after introducing yourself so how would you know?" Sora said as she strapped back her weapons to their place. Killua chuckled.

"True."

* * *

The group was now running on a set of stairs and they have been running for a very long time. Her pantings was now heavier than before. Finally can't take the heat anymore, Sora yanked her hood down, her shaggy maroon hair fell past her shoulder and ended around her chest. Gon and Leorio widened their eyes, shocked but the other two members of the group don't seem surprised by it.

"Ehh?! You're a girl, Sora?" Gon exclaimed. Sora blinked at his words and faced him.

"I thought you knew already," Sora responded. Gon scratched his cheek while shaking his head in embarrassment.

"Actually…no." Sora nodded slowly and looked at Leorio who were still gaping at her. She raised an eyebrow.

"How can a girl joined a Hunter Exam?" Leorio asked, flabbergasted. Sora frowned, crosses her arms and scoffed angrily.

"So what? Are you looking down on me?" Sora said and narrowed her eyes dangerously as Leorio broke down into sweat and shivered slightly.

"N-no, i-it's just surprising for me to see a girl joining a dangerous things like the Hunter Exam."

Sora glared at him as Leorio let out a small, barely audible 'eeeeepppp'. Both Killua and Kurapika were staring in amusement, Killua stifling a laugh while Gon was trying to settle them down.

"Sora, calm down, I'm sure Leorio didn't mean that," Gon tried to assure her. Sora uncrossed her arms and dropped them to their previous position, huffing. Leorio sighed.

"I'm not like those frail girls who can't even protect themselves," Sora said, still angry at the comments. Leorio muttered a soft 'sorry'. Sora sighed.

"Don't mind it, anyway how do you know I'm a girl?" Sora asked as she faced the blonde teen and the white hair boy.

"Your voice is higher than any boy at your age," Kurapika explained. Sora made a small 'uh-huh'.

"And if you stared closely, your face is more feminine than any boys." Sora stared blankly at Kurapika.

"Your face is feminine too," Sora blurted out bluntly. It was as if a knife fell on top of him, Kurapika froze for a few second and tried to prevent his eye from twitching uncontrollably.

"Yes…I get that a lot…" Sora didn't seem to notice her earlier comment.

"But that was interesting explanations," she mused. And a silence soon came.

* * *

"Hey, Gon, Sora, wanna race to see who finishes first?" Killua asked.

"Sure," Gon and Sora said simultaneously.

"The losers has to buy dinner for the winner," Killua said.

"Ok! Ready…set go!" They all said in sync as they ran faster than before and eventually caught up to Leorio and Kurapika who were ahead of them earlier.

"See you at the goal, Kurapika," Gon said to the blonde teen as Sora waved slightly.

"Catch you later, old timer," Killua said to Leorio with a hint of mischief. A vein bulged on Leorio's head.

"I'M NOT OLD! I'M A TEENAGER JUST LIKE YOU GUYS!" He yelled at them. The other four froze at his words.

"EHH?!"

* * *

Most of the examinees who were ahead of then were now passed out or laying exhausted on the stairs. Gon, Killua and Sora had no choice but to avoid the littered bodies as they ran up.

"I'm impressed that you both can keep up with me," Killua said bluntly. Gon blushed and smiled while scratching the back of his neck.

"Really?" Sora chose to stay quiet.

"Or maybe it's just that everyone else is too slow. Man… the hunter exam is gonna be a breeze. That's no fun." Killua said with a sigh.

"Hey, why do you want to become a Hunter?" Gon asked Killua suddenly. The question caught Sora off guard.

"Me? Well, I'm not really interested in becoming a Hunter. I heard that the exam is pretty hard so I thought it'd be fun but this is disappointing. What about you?" Killua asked back.

"My dad is a Hunter so I want to become a Hunter like him."

"Oh~what kind of hunter is he?"

"I don't know," Gon said sheepishly. Killua laughed as Sora sweatdropped.

"Seriously Gon?" Sora said. Gon chuckled nervously.

"That's kinda weird, you want to be a Hunter like your dad but you don't know anything about him?"

"I was raised by Mito-san so I only know my dad from pictures," Gon said, suddenly serious.

"Who's Mito-san?"

"Umm, she's my aunt," Gon said thoughtfully, "when my dad was twelve, he took the Hunter Exam, he passed and became a Hunter. He left the island and I want to find out why he chose to become a Hunter than being with me," Gon ended his explanation. This time Gon directed his question to Sora.

"How about you Sora? Why do you want to become a Hunter?" Sora tapped her chin with her forefinger, frowning a bit.

"I guess I want to know how strong I am, if I wasn't able to passed the exam that means I'm still weak." She shrugged lightly, "and to escape my sentence too…"she looked down to her feet and muttered quietly that it was inaudible to the other persons beside her.

"What was that?" Gon asked. Sora looked up and found herself staring at Gon's curious eyes.

"Nothing." Killua narrowed his eyes suspiciously before looking ahead and his eyes widened.

"The exit!" Someone shouted from the back as Gon and Sora followed Killua's gaze. A batch of light was right in front of them. They all grinned before bursting into faster speed. Satotz stood on top of the stairs and turned around to check how many examinees were going to make it.

"GOAL!" Both Gon and Killua yelled with a large smile plastered on their face while Sora laughed as they ran past the stunned examiner.

"Yay! I win!" Gon announced triumphantly.

"What are you talking about? I was faster…"

"I'm pretty sure that I was faster than both of you," Sora argued.

"No, I did!"

"No, I was faster so you both have to buy me dinner!"

"But I'm clearly faster…" Gon said positively.

"You know what, why don't we just ask Satotz over there?" Sora said with a sigh while gesturing to the no mouth examiner who was watching them in avid interest. Gon blinked.

"Good idea! Hey Satotz-san, who was faster?" He asked.

"I believe that you all crossed the finish line simultaneously," Satotz said.

"Oh …," Gon said ,"then I'll buy you dinner."

"Huh?" Both Killua and Sora said in unison.

"Then you buy me dinner," Gon said.

"I don't get it," Killua stated, shaking his head. Sora nodded in agreement.

"Satotz-san, is this where the second phase takes place?" Gon asked, ignoring the other boy's words.

"No, we still have quite a long way to go," Satotz said calmly.

Sora chose the time to observe the surroundings. It was a large clearing with dense fog that covered the entire place. She waved her hand in front of her face to check the denseness, only to receive a weird look from Killua.

One by one, examinees started to fill up the clearing. Kurapika and Leorio were the last few ones who arrived at the clearing.

"Kurapika!" Gon yelled. Kurapika gave a small wave to the trio and looked at his surroundings.

"Is this our destination?" He asked, clearly out of breath.

"No it isn't," Gon said with a smile

"I see," Kurapika said simply,"the fog is fading," he pointed out.

"Really?" Gon said and stood up from his seat. Killua and Sora also stood up. The fog is clearly fading despite it faded slowly. Soon, the forest and plants around them were visible, revealing a jungle-like domain. Her hood was back on her head as a pair of orange colored orbs twinkled in mirth.

 _Woods!_

* * *

 **I hope you enjoy this chapter. It took me awhile to write and like I said in the previous chapter, my updates were very random so I'm really sorry. Anyway, thanks for those who favorites, follow and review this story. I really REALLY appreciate it. I'll be replying your reviews!**

Nikooru6E **: well, not really. It seems like my summary was a mess -" It's a KilluaxOC fic actually.**

lori **: thanks for the compliment~**

crystal8wolf **: and thanks too~ I hope this chapter satisfied both of you.**

 **And I'm looking for a beta reader, is there any out there?**

 **Anyhow…**

 **See you in the next chapter~**


	3. Chapter 3

"The Numere Wetlands, also known as the Swindlers Swamp, we must cross this wetlands to reach the Phase Two of the exam," Satotz explained, snapping Sora from her musing.

 _'Swamp?'_ She thought, frowning. Swamp equals to water and water is one thing that Sora dislikes during her burning spree. She 'tsk'ed softly.

"This place is home for many bizarre animals, many of them being cunning, insatiable creatures who deceive and prey upon humans. Be very careful, if you let them fool you, you're as good as dead."

The gate from the dark tunnel began to slide down slowly, sealing their exit. An unlucky examinee who was dragging his body to reach there, could only stared in horror as the door closed itself with a 'thump' in front of him.

"These wetlands creatures will use every trick up their sleeve to fool their prey. An ecosystem in which creatures obtain food through deceit, hence the name Swindlers Swamp."

Killua noticed the sudden change of mood from the girl beside him who was frowning deeply. Sora caught his stare and smiled lightly at him in which he frowned at.

 _Strange…_ he thought.

"Stay very close to me so you won't be deceived."

"Don't listen to him!" A voice suddenly called out from behind. Every examinees turned their head toward the voice and saw a heavily injured man limping toward them.

"He's lying you! He's an imposter, I'm the real examiner!"

Others looked at the man in shock while Sora simply looked unamused. Really, who would believe a Hunter Exam examiner could get injured that bad? Certainly not Sora.

The examinees shot dirty looks at the innocent examiner who was staring at them with a straight face, completely unaffected by the accusation.

"Hey, mister!" Leorio suddenly called out.

"Do you have any proof? Proof that the guy over there is an imposter?"

"Take… a look at…this!" The man exclaimed and held out an ape like creature. The crowd gasped in shock.

"W-what is that? Is that a magical beast?" They asked among themselves.

The creature's eyes were rolled to the back of it's head, showing the white. It's tongue was hanging out from the mouth. To sum it up, it's face looks exactly like Satotz minus the mouth.

"It's a Man-Faced Ape, one of the creatures that reside in the Numere Wetlands!" the man exclaimed.

"A Man-Faced Ape?" Leorio asked, everyone frowning at the man.

"Man-Faced Apes love the flavor of fresh human flesh. However, their limbs are quite long and thin, making them quite weak," the man explained.

"That's why they impersonate themselves as human beings. They fool humans into following them to the wetlands, where they end up teaming up with the other creatures to kill and consume them…. HE TOO IS THAT CREATURE! HE INTENDS TO TRAP EVERY APPLICANTS HERE AND KILL YOU ALL TO BE DEVOURED!" the man exclaimed, widening his smirk while pointing at Satotz.

The crowd's faces darkened as they started to mob around Satotz except Kurapika who had a calculative look on his face, a clueless Gon, Killua that didn't believe the accusation, an unamused Sora and Hisoka, the clown guy, who was leaking out murderous intent.

Cards suddenly flew toward the so called examiner, hitting him directly and stabbing him like a knife. Satotz caught each of the cards between his fingers skillfully and easily.

The fake examiner fell backward and land on the ground with a heavy 'thud', the monkey being dragged down together with him. All eyes stared back between the real and fake examiners in shock before shifting their gazes and stared at Hisoka in fright, who was shuffling the rest of the cards in his hands.

"I see…I see…," the said man hummed, continuing to shuffle his cards.

"That settles in then… you are the real examiner, that was a lot quicker than just sitting here and asking questions, correct?" Hisoka said.

The group's attention was now back to Satotz who was still holding the cards. Satotz stared at them and casually tossed away the cards from his hand.

"Examiners are hunters picked by the committee to perform this duty without pay," Hisoka explained. "Any hunter, bearing the title we seek, would be able to defend themselves from a mild attack like that."

"I shall take that as a compliment," Satotz said, his eyes closed. "However, if you attack me once more, for any certain circumstances, I willl report you for turning against an examiner and you'll immediately be disqualified from this exam. Are we clear?"

Hisoka smirked.

"Sure. I got it," the man said, walking away.

Vultures one by one landed on the corpses, devouring them. Killua silently noted that Sora wasn't even fazed by it even the slightest.

"If you lose sight of me in the fog, you'll never reach the Second Phase of the exam," Satotz said ,"...keep that in mind." The purple haired man turned and walked briskly again as the tense examinees ran after him, trying hard not to lose the sight of him in the dense fog.

* * *

Few hours passed and the fog is getting thicker and thicker. Sora, who was running together with Gon and Killua can barely see them in the fog. Her sneakers splashed quietly on the wet ground.

Sora suddenly felt killer intent and a shiver went down her spine. Both her and Killua tensed up and glanced over their shoulder. Her eyes narrowed.

"Hey, Gon, Sora," Killua spoke up suddenly.

"Huh?" Gon turned to look at him.

"Let's move up," Killua continued to speak. Sora nodded in agreement.

"Okay, we don't want to lose sight of the examiner," Gon agreed.

"Actually, I'm thinking we should increase our distance from Hisoka," Sora told him. Killua nodded.

"Staying to close to him is dangerous, I can smell it from here," Killua added quietly.

"Smell?" Gon asked before proceeding to sniff the air.

"I don't think he smells," Gon stated. Sora mentally shook her head at his naïveness, patting him on the back. Killua stared at her weirdly while Sora shrugged him off with a shrug. Gon only blinked.

"Leorio! Kurapika! Killua said that we should move up!" Gon yelled through the thick fog. Sora sweat dropped at this.

"Hey, can't you feel the tensions surrounding us? Killua scolded him.

"Moron! If I had the strength, I'd already been there!" Leorio called back from behind.

"Don't worry about us!" Kurapika added. Gon looked behind worriedly.

"Come on, the less time we spent chit chatting, here the better," Sora commented abruptly, only to soften at Gon's face.

"They'll be fine," she whispered to his ear and patted his head before letting it dropped to her sides.

"Let's go, Gon, Sora," Killua said, breaking the silence and soon Gon and Sora ran to catch up with him.

* * *

The stench of blood is getting stronger and stronger as they ran farther and deeper into the woods. More and more screams were heard. The fog has thickened to the point Sora can't even see what's in front of her.

"I can hear people screaming around us," Gon stated as they continued to ran ahead without a clear view of where they're going.

"Just stay on your guard," Killua reassured them.

"I wonder if Leorio and Kurapika are okay..." Gon glanced back for the umpteenth time that day.

"They're strong, they'll be fine," Sora said ,"...I think..." she reluctantly added.

They continued to run ahead when suddenly they ran over something and stopped in their tracks.

The word 'huh?' simultaneously left their mouth as the ground began to shake violently and they fell into the gaping mouth of a giant frog.

Sora gasped in surprise as the frog swallowed them all and she could feel it walking away due to it's rumbling. The smell of the "cave" was entirely unpleasant and what's the sticky substances that she was sitting on anyway?

"Killua, Sora!" Gon shouted in relief after seeing them sitting not far from his spot. Killua was seated on the frog's tongue.

 _They're okay..._ Sora thought quietly. After running together with them for hours, she can't help but started to feel comfortable around them, though there were still this awkward things here and there.

Sora grabbed her tonfas and prepared herself to start beating the frog, only to halt when she saw Killua pouring the content of a familiar orange can all over the frog's tongue.

 _Isn't that the can I was given earlier?_ Sora thought, putting her tonfa back. Not long after that, the frog's cheeks grew puffy, the air grew stuffy and... **Bleeergh!**

The frog spat them out, releasing them from it's disgusting mouth. The trio fell on the ground. Sora stared at the puddle of liquid that was spat out along with them.

"...gross," she groaned quietly as she examined her now soaked clothes which are stuck to her skin. Her hood was back on her shoulder, showing her messed up hair. She fished out her matchbox and a relief sigh escaped her lips.

 _Good thing it isn't wet..._

The frog walked away, completely forgetting it's once food.

"I guess it didn't like the taste of us," Gon commented, rubbing the back of his neck.

"It was this," Killua said and showed him the orange can.

"Ah! That was from Tonpa-san!" Gon exclaimed, shock clearly written on his face.

"Guess he saves us," he ended with a sheepish smile.

"Well, I could have escape." Killua threw away the can.

"I'm still worried about Leorio and Kurapika," Gon said, looking back.

"Forget about them. Let's move on. We might catch up to the examiner," Killua said, stood up and started to run. Sora pocketed her matchbox and stood up as well. Gon quickly joined them.

"You're not going to wear your hood?" Killua asked as they were back running.

"I'll wear it later," Sora answered.

Killua nodded his head in understatement and glanced at Sora who was running a few steps behind him. A frown appeared on his pale face as he looked back in front.

 _She seems familiar..._

"Hey Sora, have I seen you before?" His question was greeted with silence.

"Sora?"

Instantly, he stopped running and whipped his head back. His eyes roamed around the empty space that surrounds him, searching for any visible maroon hair.

She was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

A few meters behind, a certain maroon haired girl ran cautiously. After hearing the decreasing sound of Gon's footsteps, the girl had stopped for a moment and looked back. But the fog has thicken into something impenetrable that she can't even see the spiky haired boy ran back.

And when she looked back ahead, the albino haired boy was gone. Sighing, she resumed her earlier run but this time alone all the while letting her mind wandered.

 _Will it be okay if she trust this guys?_

A nervous smile formed on her lips as she slowly put on her hood back, shielding her face from others.

 _I'll just have to wait and see..._

* * *

 **Yahoooo! I'm back after...roughly 5 month? Yeah, I know a very long wait for one chapter. I lost motivation for this story suddenly but now it's back so no worries! I'm so sorry for those who waited long enough for this chapter.**

 **So replying reviews:**

 **Yinyang555: Thanks for the compliment and I'm glad you like her :3**

 **JokeLover123: Glad you like her xD**

 **And thank you for those who favorite and follow this story! Look at that amount, woww...**

 **Honestly, I was shocked that a lot of people enjoyed this story so I'll be doing my best to update often. I sincerely hope that this simple chapter would satisfy those who waited.**

 **So, I'll end this A/N here before it gets too long xD**

 **(P.S. For those who have questions, criticisms, opinions or even ideas, please don't be shy and tell them :3 I would love to hear them)**

 **See you at the next chapter o(** **〃＾▽＾〃** **)o**


	4. Chapter 4

Patches of green was spread out beside her, clustered with dead bodies around a certain person. While running, Sora caught the faint sound of yells and screams. Silently hoping that it was the main group, Sora had decided to follow the noises. But she certainly had never expected to find the clown guy she had been trying to avoid since the beginning of the exam.

She watched as Hisoka attempted to grab Leorio's tie after Leorio's failed attempt in fighting the man. Her body tensed up when she could feel his eyes bored into her, a smirk on his face. A card was suddenly thrown into her and Sora jumped to the side, allowing the magician to see her. A firm scowl was set on her face as she glared darkly at the still smirking man.

"Sora!" Leorio yelled in worry at what the insane man would do to the girl.

"Well, well, it seems like we have another participant in this little game of mine," Hisoka said in a creepy sounding tone and threw another card at her, this time aiming at her chest. Sora deflected the card with her tonfa and took a defensive stance.

"What do you want?" She asked coldly.

"I'm an Examiner, that means it's my job to evaluate you," Hisoka answered and made an attempt to throw another card, when a the bait of the fishing pole struck his cheek.

"Gon!" Leorio yelled again, this time worrying about the sudden appearance of the boy. Sora turned her head toward the boy who have yet to notice her.

"I made it in time." Sora could hear the boy said from distance.

"Not bad, little boy," Hisoka complimented as he directed his attention now to Gon. The spiky haired boy tensed up and gripped his weapon tighter.

"Is that a fishing pole? What fascinating," Hisoka said and walked closer to Gon. Sora sprinted to the front of the boy who was surprised to see her there. A glare from her shut him up from any unnecessary question.

"Allow me to have a closer look," Hisoka continued to advance to them as Gon trembled at his gaze.

"Your opponent is me!" Leorio yelled as he ran up to Hisoka, a stick in his hand. Hisoka punched him in the face, sending him flying into the air and knocked him unconscious.

Gon jumped up from behind and swung his fishing pole at Hisoka, turning him into dust.

"You came to rescue your friend?"

Gon widened his eyes and quickly jumped away.

"Such a good boy."

Gon swung his fishing pole again as Hisoka faded back into the dust and reappeared at a farther distance.

Sora, who stood up closer to the spot, took the chance to run up and attacked him together with Gon, who attack him from far with his fishing line.

Her first swing aimed at his head missed and she swung the second one to his leg. Both of their attacks were successfully dodged by Hisoka.

"And that expressions..."

Another swung and Hisoka merely tilted his head.

"Nice..."

Gon swung his fishing pole continuously at him, Hisoka dodging it easily.

"Very nice..."

Sora slammed both of her tonfa at his stomach however, Hisoka dodged it with ease and slowly raised his leg.

Widening her eyes, Sora blocked his kick with her weapons. A kick that still managed to send her flying across to the other side of the field even with the blocking.

Sora gasped in pain as her back collided with the rough surface of the tree trunk. Her weapons were dropped halfway throughout the painful journey. Even her hood was back yet again on her shoulder.

"Sora!" Gon yelled in worry as he continued to attack him repeatedly whilst jumping around.

Sora groaned in pain after a short recovery. Her back ached and she felt the slight dizziness. But she paid no mind to any of it and instead chose to retrieve her weapons as quietly as possible. Cards were thrown to her every time she took each step closer to her littered weapons, hindering her from retrieving them. The girl shot cold glares at the culprit as she leaped back, dodging another wave of cards.

"Yosh," she heard Gon mumbled softly.

He rose his fishing pole and threw the bait at Hisoka. Hisoka who was expecting the bait to be aimed at him, was obviously surprised that the bait fell to the ground, a cloud of dust followed as soon as it fell to the ground. Gon appeared behind him and attempted another back hit. But his action was cut short when Hisoka held him by his throat in an iron grip, choking him. His weapon thudded on the ground.

"Gon!" Sora yelled in horror, completely forgetting her weapons. Immediately, she ran up to him, jumped up and swung her fist at him for a hard punch. Hisoka let her fist came contact with his face, unfazed by the strong impact.

'As expected he wasn't fazed by it' Sora thought, gritting her teeth in frustration.

With his free hand, Hisoka grabbed her wrist and held her on the same level as Gon, her legs dangling in midair. In a desperate attempt to free herself, Sora kicked him in the stomach, but still the man wouldn't let go.

' _My strength is not enough!_ ' She mentally cursed herself.

"How wonderful."

Sora struggled in trying to get her hand back from the deadly grip as Gon tried to pry off the fingers wrapped around his throat.

"I really do love that look," Hisoka said, his voice getting creepier and creepier as he tightened both of his grip.

' _This is definitely going to leave a bruise_ ' Sora thought, wincing in pain.

He then proceeded to drop both Sora and Gon to the ground after seeing Gon gave up in struggling. Gon gasped for his breath as Sora scooted closer to him while clutching her bruised wrist and glaring at the red haired man.

"Do not fear," Hisoka said, crouching down in front of them.

"I won't kill your friend, he passed," Hisoka declared, a smile plastered on his face as he studied them closely.

"Yes, you both passed, as well," he continued, now giving them an eyes closed smile. "Grow up and become a fine Hunter."

Loud beeping noises were suddenly heard from Hisoka's pocket as he took out what seems like a walkie talkie.

"Hisoka, you should get back here, we're nearly at the Phase Two site," a voice from the walkie talkie said.

"Okay, I'll be right there," Hisoka replied to it and stood up. Sora watched him curiously but still with a glare on her face.

"It's always good to have friends," He said, hauling Leorio to his shoulder, like a sack of potato, and glanced back.

"You can find your way back, yes?"

Gon nodded slowly, still shaken by earlier.

"That's a good boy..."

After he said those words, Hisoka slowly walked away and disappeared, completely got swallowed by the fog. Sora stared at the empty spot where the clown has previously been and switched her attention to Gon when he began panting harder, a drop of sweat sliding down his face.

"Gon...are you okay?" Sora asked softly, her tone laced with hidden worry and concern. Gon nodded his head, visibly trembling.

The fog finally lifted up after a long time, now giving them a clear view of the forest.

"Gon! Sora!" A yelled from a distance and a familiar blond ran to them, earning both of their attentions.

"Are you both okay? What did he do to both of you?" Kurapika asked as he stopped in front of them.

Gon stared blankly at the empy space before them and stood up quietly, picking up Leorio's briefcase.

 _'I wonder what he meant by saying we passed...'_ Gon thought as he hanged the briefcase to his fishing pole.

"We're fine, Kurapika-san," Sora silently said and stood up as well, jogging lightly to where her weapons are. Pain shot up from her right wrist as she picked them up. She stifled a painful hiss from being let out and very slowly strapped back her weapons.

"I-I think we should get going by now," Sora said, lifting her hood up and turned to face both boys who nodded. Simultaneously, they ran deeper into the forest.

* * *

The trio continued to run down the dirt covered path with the help of Gon's sense of smell.

"This way," He claimed and led them to another path after sniffing the air

"You can really tell?" Kurapika asked, clearly surprised.

"Uh-huh," Gon answered.

Sora tilted her head curiously and exchanged a look of confusion with Kurapika.

"How?" This time it was Sora's turn to ask.

"Leorio's cologne is very unique. I can smell him from a few kilometers away," Gon explained.

"You're like a dog...!" Sora muttered in shock and wonderment. Gon smiled at her sheepishly and abruptly he turned serious.

"Say, Kurapika, what did Hisoka mean when he said that we passed?" He asked.

"Hisoka was acting as a judge," the feminine boy replied.

"A judge?"

"Yes, he must have his own benchmarks for evaluating power. It's possible that he was ascertaining each applicant's strength. Apparently, you, Leorio and Sora must have met his standards," Kurapika remarked.

"I see, but I was powerless to do anything against him," Gon stated gloomily.

"Didn't you land your first hit at him?"

"Only because I surprised him. Besides, Leorio passed, even though he lost..." Gon said.

"Hmmm...perhaps he sensed that you were kindred spirits."

"Kindred spirits?" Gon asked. Sora twitched slightly at his side.

' _How are we similar though_?' She thought thoughtfully.

"I seriously doubt that Hisoka could qualify as a Hunter," Kurapika stated darkly.

"However, I must admit that he did impress me with his superhuman agility and graceful technique. It's quite common that those possessing special talents are drawn to others with unique gifts."

"Most likely, Hisoka's instincts and experience told him that you had the skill and potential to become Hunters," Kurapika finished his explanation.

"Killing you now would have been a waste. That was his perspective."

A silence.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Kurapika apologized. "Was that insensitive on my part?"

Sora covered her astonishment at Kurapika's explanation, with a blank face.

"No...but I was pretty excited, as well," Gon said. Kurapika looked at him, puzzled.

"I was so scared, I wanted to run away, but I couldn't and at the same time, I feel excited. Isn't it strange?" Gon explained, a smile on his face. Kurapika and Sora exchanged another look.

"I don't think it's that strange," Sora voiced out her opinion, "I've experienced that kind of situation in my life."

"Really?"

Sora nodded her head.

"Aren't you hot wearing black jacket all the time?" Kurapika suddenly asked.

"But Gon's wearing jacket too," Sora retorted.

"Yes, but not black, black absorbs heat which means, it must have been hotter for you," Kurapika didn't pay any attention to her previous statement and continued to ask. Sora pondered for awhile.

"Well, yeah, it does feel hot sometimes, but I can still bear it," Sora replied.

"Though, if I can't take it anymore, I'll take off my hood and if it was really unbearable, I'll take off my jacket which is rare."

Sora ended her explanation with a shrug.

"Heat isn't a real problem for me," Sora stated quietly.

"Ah, I see."

From afar, the trio saw a meadow filled with participants and a giant door was behind them. They slowed down their speed into a brisk walking speed as they entered the place.

"Looks like we made it in time," Kurapika declared.

Sora panted lightly from all the running and finally let herself to walk. Gon looked around the place, searching for any sign of Leorio. His eyes met Hisoka's, who was leaning to a tree, as the man pointed over a tree where Leorio was sat against.

"Leorio!" Gon exclaimed, running over to the half-naked man. Both Sora and Kurapika followed him closely. They surrounded the man who has begun to regain his consciousness.

"Man, that stings..." Leorio muttered while rubbing his swollen cheek. Sora can't help but chuckle slightly at his ridiculous appearance.

"Why am I all beat up?" He turned to ask the newly come trio. Gon, Sora and Kurapika blinked.

"Huh?" All three said.

"You don't remember?" Sora asked.

"My memory is kinda hazy..." Leorio answered.

 _'The punch must have hit him quite hard,_ ' Sora silently thought, wincing.

"We probably shouldn't tell him what happened," Kurapika whispered, earning a nervous smile from Gon and a sigh from Sora.

"Yeah..."

"Gon!" A familiar voice suddenly called out.

"Killua!" Gon yelled, seeing the white haired boy walking over to them, his skateboard tucked to his arm.

"I can't believe you actually got here! I though you were done for!" He said in relief, a smile tugged on his lips.

"I just tracked Leorio's cologne," Gon replied as he approached the pale skin boy.

"Cologne? That was how? You definitely are weird," Killua commented, his eye twitching.

"He's just like a dog, isn't it?" Sora laughed at her own statement and approached them, arms behind. Killua chuckled and nodded while Gon pouted.

"You said that twice, you know?" He said. Sora stopped beside him and ruffled him on the head, ignoring the dull throb around her wrist.

"Because you act like one," Sora simply said, a smile now formed on her face. "And I meant it in a good way," she quickly added.

Gon's smile widened at the girl's sudden change of mood. "You seem very happy, Sora," Gon said.

"Really? Maybe it's you guys succeeding in making me feel comfortable around you." A grin was now plastered on her face and retrieved her hand slowly from the black haired boy's head.

Killua and Gon smiled at her when Killua noticed the girl's discomfort at retrieving her hand. He opened his mouth to question her and again, he was interrupted. He mentally told himself to ask her later.

"Excellent work, everyone. Phase Two of the exam will occur here in Biska Forest Park," Satotz announced.

"So, I shall take my leave. Best of luck to all of you," Satotz ended his announcement and walked back to where the participants originated, arms still swinging in their unique way.

Slowly, the giant door began to open itself, revealing what it has been hiding until now. Sora mentally sighed.

 _Let's see what the Second Phase held..._

* * *

 **This chapter is probably the fastest chapter I've ever updated xD. Really, it usually takes me a month or more to update a chapter. I have a lot of motivation to write stories nowadays xD. So this chapter is an accomplishment for meeeee (^** **)/**

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	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own HxH! I forgot to put this last 4 chapters...**

* * *

As soon as the door opened, the participants stared curiously at the Phase Two site including Sora. Some stared in shock, some stared in confusion, some maybe in annoyance or even in incredulousness.

In the far other side of the place, a woman with a green hair tied into five different segments was sitting on a sofa, legs crossed. Behind her, a giant man with a big tummy and a pleased look on his face, sat.

"Will all participants who passed the First Phase please enter?" The young woman said.

"Welcome." She smiled.

"I'm Menchi, the Second Phase Examiner."

"And I'm Buhara, the other examiner," the giant man continued her words. All participants waited anxiously for the Second Phase to start when a sudden growl was heard. Sora blinked her eyes in surprised.

"W-what was that sound?" People around Sora began to fuss around.

"You must be hungry," the green haired woman said to the man behind her. Buhara patted his big tummy and frowned.

"I'm starving..."

Menchi abruptly stood up.

"And there you have it, the Phase Two will involved..." she announced. Sora narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"Don't tell me...," she muttered, gaining the attention of the same age boys who looked at her curiously.

"Cooking!" Menchi yelled, shocking the entire participants. Sora groaned in annoyance. She was so screwed! Both of the examiners might be professional cooks so they must have high standards for their cookings and she doubted that they were going to judge their food lightly.

The other four boys attention were suddenly fixated on her.

"What? I know how to cook but only simple dishes," Sora answered their unspoken question.

"At least you know how." Sora heard Kurapika muttered beside her.

"C-cooking?" Sora heard someone from the crowd said, apparently the bald ninja.

"Wait! Cooking? We're here to take the Hunter Exam!" Another guy from the crowd yelled, Todo.

"That's quite right, your challenge for the Second Phase is to produce a dish that will satisfy our palate," Menchi explained.

"Why do we have to cook?" Another complain was heard.

"That's because we are... Gourmet Hunters!" Both Menchi and Buhara said in unison.

The crowd fell into silence before they erupted into laughter excluding the newly formed group. Sora could see the two examiners fumed angrily that even Sora got slightly ticked off by their mocking laughter. Although, she knows that her cooking ability is only enough to keep her survive, she never thought that cooking is not important, but maybe it's because of the fire created every time, Sora doesn't mind cooking.

"So, Gourmet Hunters, what are we supposed to make?" The same guy asked in a mocking tone.

"Buhara," Menchi called out quietly. The giant man stood up from his seat and the ground shook as soon as the man took a step forward.

"The required ingredients is pork," the man stated.

"Pork? As in pig meat?" Questions arose from the crowd.

"You're free to use meat from any species of Biska Forest Pigs. You must use the cooking facilities here to prepare pork. And you only pass if we both find it delicious," Buhara explained.

"And we will evaluate more than just the taste. Don't underestimate the intricacies of cooking. Got it?" Menchi said in annoyance, obviously still annoyed at the earlier laughter.

"When we've both eaten our fill, the exam will end."

"We get it. We get it. Let's just start," Todo simply waved off their warnings.

"Then, the exam's Second Phase...begins now!" Buhara announced and hit his stomach, creating a gong like sound.

All participants ran out of the site in a hurry. If only they know what kind pf pigs are waiting for them...

* * *

The group of five looked around the forest, searching for any visible signs of pigs in the forest.

"Catch a pig and cook it," Leorio said confidently, breaking the silence. "This is way easier than the First Phase."

"I hope it will be that simple," Kurapika muttered, Sora silently agreeing with the blond boy.

Gon noticed the slope on the hill and proceeded to slide on it, followed by Killua. Then, it was Sora, who unknowingly got pulled along by the white haired boy. She let out a shock yelp when he grabbed her wrist. Lastly was Leorio and Kurapika. A sudden jam was created when Gon stopped sliding down to hill, resulting others to bump into each other in the process. Sora winced when her face collided with Killua's back.

"What was that about, Gon?" Killua scolded.

"Found them," Gon declared and looked over to the right.

"Huh?"

Just like Gon said, huge, pigs with large snout were standing near them and haven't noticed them yet. And they were chewing something.

"Pigs!" Leorio announced the obvious fact.

"Uh...they're chewing on bones," Sora commented.

"Don't tell me, they're carnivores?" Kurapika exclaimed.

As if confirming what the teen said, the pig snapped the bone in half and screeched, it's large snout flaring up. And the next second, the group of five found themselves running away from the herd of pigs.

"Huh?" All the nearby participants wondered as they looked over to where the noise and ruckus start.

"What's that?"

A group of five were being chased by giant pigs, leaving large trail of dust behind them and were running with a indifferent expression on their face except for Leorio who was yelling. The other participants widened their eyes in shock.

"I think it's better for you to run now if you don't want to get killed," Sora called out helpfully and much to her amusement, participants began running away in vain as the pigs slammed their large snout to few unlucky participants, sending them flying into the air like bowling pins.

"These pigs are crazy!" Leorio shouted over the loud rumble the pigs created.

One by one, the participants attacked the pig that were chasing them with whatever things they could find. But alas, The pigs deflected all the things that were thrown to them easily with their large snout.

Sora sprinted to a different direction from the group and led a pig behind her, spinning on her heel and stop, tonfas out open.

"Let's see where is your weakest spot..." Sora mumbled to herself as she jumped up, dodging the incoming pig and landed one of the tree's branch.

From that spot, Sora has a wider view of seeing things and frowned at the pig that is charging the tree, trying to drag her down. A loud 'thump' resounded from one side and Sora turned to face the source of the sound. Gon has just knocked out a pig by hitting it's forehead and Sora switched her attention back to the pig, a grin now formed on her face.

"So that is your weak spot, huh...," she mused and hopped down.

With her uninjured hand, Sora slammed her tonfa on the pig's forehead, watching the formerly dangerous pig fell dead in a second. Pigs began to drop dead on the ground one by one after the participants successfully learned it's weak spot due to Gon of course.

"Oh, you're done already?" A familiar voice called out from behind her. Instinctively, Sora jabbed her tonfa in that direction that got dodged easily by the figure.

"Killua?" Sora cocked her head in surprise and put back her weapons, seeing no obvious threat from the boy. An amused smile on his face.

"You surprised me," Sora sighed in relief and proceeded to lift the large pig over her head, carrying it. The pain around her left wrist signalled her to put it back down but Sora paid no attention to it. But even when Sora covered up the obvious pain written on her face, Killua noticed the slight twist of her face when she lifted up the pig.

"Need help carrying that?" Killua offered generously as if the burden of carrying one pig is nothing.

"I can still carry something as heavy as this," Sora replied, feeling a bit bothered by his words even when his intention is good and jogged lightly to the Second Phase Site, the boy following behind.

"You never talk much around me, don't you?" Killua asked out of the blue after a few meters of running.

"Is that a problem?" Sora inquired curiously.

"Well, not really but...never mind, forget about it."

Sora stared weirdly at the boy and silence fell upon them as they ran back.

As soon as they arrived, they made their way to the 'kitchen' that has been prepared for them. Sora laid the pig on the counter in front of her and grabbed a knife, removing its organs and cutting it into smaller pieces. Suppressing her bubbling excitement, Sora started up the fire and stared at it for a moment, admiring its feature. A poked at her side snapped her out of the trance. And again, it was Killua who surprised her.

"What are you doing? You've been staring at the fire like an idiot for a few minutes," The boy said.

"Ah, I zoned out for a moment there and I'm not staring at it like an idiot," Sora gave him a deadpan look and started roasting the pig while mentally slapping herself. Control yourself!

Killua frowned at the jacket clad girl who was chopping some lettuces. The girl is obviously hiding something from them. First, the discomfort when she moved her wrist and second, why would she stared at a fire as if it was the first time seeing it? Sighing, he turned back to his cooking. Why should he worry anyway?

Unaware of the thoughts running in the boy's mind, Sora put the neatly chopped lettuces she had cut while waiting for the meat to cook on a plate. Next, she placed the meat pieces on top of the lettuces and her eyes scanned the counter for any seasonings. Much to her joy, salts, peppers and stuffs alike were placed beside a stacked of knives. Sora sprinkled some salt and peppers over the meat and added some cherry tomatoes beside the meat, finishing the dish. Her lips curved upward slightly as she took a bite from her dish, tasting the food.

'I guess it has got enough flavor but...' she frowned, 'I think it won't satisfy the judges.'

"I'm pretty sure I heard you said you could only cook simple dishes," Killua said from beside her, looking at her dish. Sora looked at the two examiners, seeing them -to be more precise, Menchi- failing another participants for the umpteenth time that day.

"Uh, I cook meat better?" Sora replied, not knowing how to answer that.

"I don't know if it will satisfy them though..." she trailed off as she watched Gon served his dish that is decorated with flowers after Leorio's failed attempt to please the examiners. And again, another failed attempt to please Menchi as the woman threw away the dish.

"Really? It looks fine to me," Killua stared at her dish closely and raised an eyebrow at her. "What makes you think it will be bad?"

"Menchi has pretty high standards in cooking, that fact is pretty obvious," Sora exhaled deeply and grabbed the plate with one hand. "Still, I'm going to try and serve my dish," Sora paused, "are you going to serve yours?"

"Mine's pretty much similar with others, I'm pretty sure I won't pass," Killua said dryly and took a piece from her plate sneakily, ignoring Sora's short 'hey!'.

"It's not bad, actually it's pretty good!" Killua commented as he took a bite of it. Sora released the breathe she hasn't realized she had been holding.

"At least, I know that it's edible," Sora grinned lightly him and the boy returned it.

Sora approached the examiners after seeing Kurapika walking down in a mini depression state. Being compared to Leorio must have been a shock for him! Sora patted him on the back encouragingly as she walked past him. The teen smiled weakly at her and went back into his depression state in which Sora chuckled slightly at.

"Finally something that looks edible," Menchi muttered as Sora placed the plate on the table. The woman took a bite of it and tried to think of an answer as Sora stood there nervously.

"Hmm, not bad but still not good enough, the meat is slightly overcooked and you put in too much spices," Menchi concluded.

"But still, your dish is was better than those lousy men who don't even put effort into their cooking," Menchi continued, sending a brief glare at the other participants before giving an apologetic smile to Sora. "Sadly, I have to fail you."

Sora nodded her head in understanding and bowed before walking back to her kitchen. Gon approached her, a look of concern visible on his face as soon as she stepped back into the field with a slight gloomy aura.

"It's fine, Sora! You're the first person whose dish got complimented!" Gon tried to cheer her up.

"I still failed though," Sora sighed at her own words and crossed her arms with a huff.

"Well, can't change what has happened," Killua said from her other side, hands in his pockets.

"At least, it's edible, just like you said," the boy winced at the thought of his cooking ,"unlike mine..."

Sora laughed awkwardly and managed to force out a smile. She could just take another exam next year but...she wasn't sure she was going to-

A loud 'bam' interrupted her thought midway after the culprit punched a kitchen counter in rage, destroying it. It was Todo, the Wrestler. A huge scowl was prominent on his ugly face.

"I won't accept this! I absolutely refuse to accept this!" The man stated angrily. _Can't accept what?_ Sora thought confusedly before realization hit her.

"In the end, you've still failed," Menchi stated.

"You asked for pork and we risked our lives to-"

"I said to prepare the pork in both manner we said delicious!" Menchi explained angrily.

Sora chose to ignore the rest of their bicker, knowing fully well what causes them to get so hyped up and angry. The next thing she knew, the wrestler guy was sent flying into the wall.

'Must have been karma,' the girl thought absentmindedly.

"Buhara, don't interfere," Menchi said quietly. The giant man glanced down at her.

"Well, if I hadn't interfered, you'd have killed him, right?" Menchi shrugged lightly and stood from her seat, butcher knives in each hand.

"Probably," she simply said.

"Let me clarify this, we frequently venture into dens of ferocious beasts, searching for ingredients," Menchi explained as she walked down from the platform.

"Every Hunter knows some form of martial art," Menchi continued as she started juggling the knives.

"You lack focus and the willingness to experiment. That alone disqualifies you from becoming a Hunter!" Menchi pointed her knives as she ended her words.

Participants stayed quiet at her words, maybe some got ticked off or simply shrugged it off.

"That said, it would be excessive to fail every single participants," a voice called out from above.

Sora, along with others looked up to the source and saw an airship flying on top of the site. Right after that, someone fell down from the blimp and Sora squinted her eyes for a better look. What shock her the most is that someone was an old man that landed easily on the hard ground, sending large wave of dust flying into the air. Sora coughed out the dust that entered her lungs.

"The Chairman of the Selection Committee, he's in charge of the Hunter Exam...Chairman Netero!" Menchi explained in shock.

Sora stared blankly at the old man. With that long beard and white hair, anyone would mistaken him as a nice old man unless they saw what the old man has just demonstrated just now. The girl frowned as she watched the Chairman walked calmly to Menchi, unfazed by the gapes and gawks the participants were giving him.

 _The old man was strong... Very strong..._

"So Menchi-kun," the Chairman started.

"Yes, sir."

"You failed all of the applicants because you disapproved of their reluctance to try new things?" Netero asked and Sora could see him eyeing the woman's breast. Sora twitched slightly at that.

"No sir, I lost my cool when one of the candidates insulted the Gourmet Hunters," Menchi answered his question. Todo slowly stood up with irritation from his spot after the hard punch he got.

"And I made the exam harder than necessary," Menchi said.

"In other words, you're aware that this exam was unacceptable," the Chairman continued. The woman nodded her head hesitantly.

"Yes sir, when cooking is involved, I lose control. I'm unqualified to be an examiner." the woman bowed down.

"I will resign as an examiner so please redo the Second Phase!" The woman declared.

Netero frowned and stroked his beard slowly. "But it would be difficult to find another examiner on such short notice." Menchi bowed yet again.

"I apologize..."

"Very well, how about this?," the old man brightened up and lifted up a finger.

"I'd like you to continue serving as an examiner but you must also participate in the new test you propose. Is that acceptable? I'm certain that will help the applicants to accept the results," Netero suggested as he casted a glance over the troubled participants. Menchi seems to lighten up at his suggestion.

"That's true, then the next challenge will be...boiled eggs!" Menchi declared.

Sora grinned brightly at this and cheered slightly, earning a few odd looks from around her including Killua. They looked away when they received a cold glare from her. They should be grateful the Second Phase will be redone!

"Chairman, can you take us to Mt. Split-in-Half in your airship?" Menchi pointed at the airship above them.

"Mt. Split-in-Half? I see what you're doing. Certainly I can," Netero agreed and soon the participants followed him to the airship.

"You seem pretty happy," Killua said as Sora and him walked together to the designated place.

"Of course, that way we may have the chance to pass this whole exam!" Sora excitedly said while grinning. Gon grinned along beside her and nodded.

"Yep!"

* * *

 **This is probably the longest chapter I've ever written in my whole life xD Feeling pretty proud of myself now~ and some Sora and Killua interaction here ^^**

 **That aside, thank you all for those who have favorite, follow and review this story! I'll be replying to yours now!**

 **JokeLovers123:** Thank you very much! And just like you requested, a longer chapter xD

 **ChainsOfKurapika:** I'm glad you enjoy it :D

 **Shadownightes (guest):** Gosh, don't let this story failed your Math classes, I'll be sad :( And a fanart? Wow xD Anyway, thanks for your review~

 **Hope you all readers enjoy this chapter! And I'll be on a vacation in a few days so I probably can't update soon...but I'll try to write during it, no worries~**

 **Reviews are really appreciated!**

 **See you at the next chapter :3**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own HxH!**

* * *

Sora leaned down to see the bottomless pit with what looks like webs stretched from one side to another. Occasionally, winds from downwards will blew upwards, nearly tumbling over Sora's hood. The maroon haired girl grinned. This is probably the most interesting part of the exam for her.

"Now, everyone look down there," Menchi said, pointing at the mountain's gap toward the white webs.

"W-what is that?" Someone asked shakily.

"A Spider Eagle's web," the green haired woman answered him calmly, hands now on her hips.

"Look below there, those are Spider Eagle webs, Spider Eagles build their webs in deep ravines, to protect their eggs from predator. This makes their eggs one of the most difficult ingredients to obtain. Their eggs are also known as dream eggs," Menchi explained before proceeding to jump off from the cliff.

Nearly all participants gaped in shocked and horror at the action the bold examiner has done. Sora instead, leaned down further to the gap, curious and excited to see what will happen.

The examiner has grabbed on one of the webs, seemingly waited for something before she let go of the grip on the web and grabbed one egg on her way down. How is she supposed to get back up?

"O-oi! Don't lean much further, you'll fall!" Leorio cried out in alarm from her side. Sora turned her head and stared at him for a moment before shrugging then went back seeing downwards. An angry vein popped on the man's head.

"I've warned you!"

A hand shot out to grab her hood, preventing her from leaning more as Sora shrieked in surprised. Her hair falling out from it. The culprit laughed at her shriek and retracted back his hand.

"That's the second time you shriek like that," Killua continued to laugh. Gon chuckled along while Kurapika shook his head at Killua's antics, a small smile tugged on his lips. Sora's eye twitched as she glared briefly at him.

"And the third time you surprised me," Sora blankly stated but can't kept a smile from forming.

"You never get tired in teasing me." Sora sighed and sat down on the edge of the cliff, much to Leorio's dismay.

Killua's smirk widened and words dropped out from his mouth without him realizing. "Your reactions are always cute."

Silence fell between the two, including the other boys and man as Sora could feel her cheeks redden slightly. It was only a few seconds later, Killua realized what he had just said and heat immediately rose up to his face.

"I-I mean-"

But his words were cut short when the sudden updraft brought Menchi up with him. Killua's attention was drawn to the sight of the hovering examiner as he let out a whistle. Even the other members of the newly formed group looked at it in interested and realization, completely forgetting about Killua's earlier remark.

"That looks fun..." He muttered out in excitement as both Gon and Sora nodded beside him.

"This ravines has updrafts that help the hatched chicks fly up to the webs," Netero added.

Menchi landed lightly and easily on the ground, a hand carrying an egg while the other hand placed again yet again on her hips.

"There, now I just need to boil the egg," she declared.

Not long after Menchi ended her sentence, Sora pushed herself down from the edge, sticking her tongue out as Gon and Killua looked at her in a childish envy.

"Hey! I want to be first!" Killua yelled out and jumped down, followed by an enthusiastic Gon then Kurapika and Leorio.

"Too bad!" Sora's voice echoed out as she grabbed a web and swung lightly before stopping. Seeing the young girl jumped down fearlessly, some of the participants got the courage to jump down.

Killua landed beside Sora while Gon at the other side. Kurapika and Leorio landed beside Gon. The webs slowly got filled up by the participants who had jumped down. One idiotic participant didn't wait for any updraft and foolishly jumped down, grabbed an egg and off he went to the other side. Sora snickered lightly under her breath.

The web started to snap suddenly.

"What?!" Leorio yelled in panicked as the web dipped down drastically.

"The webs won't hold us all!" Kurapika stated the obvious. Sora glanced around nervously at the web that stuck to the side, seeing it thinning every slowly.

"Gon, not yet?" Killua questioned him from the side and Sora looked at Gon, questioning him silently. The black haired boy closed his eyes as he tried to figure out the accurate time of the updraft.

A few impatient participants decided to let go off the web and were met with their deaths. Sora thanked them silently in her head for their honorable deaths, well not really honorable but still!

The webs abruptly got thinner as now it can barely supported all the people dangling down. All the participants were now looking at Gon in anticipation.

"It's gonna snap!" Leorio yelled in distressed. Sora could feel the sudden soft wind from down side and knew it was the right time.

"NOW!" Gon immediately shouted as he let go the webs. Followed by the rest of the dangling people. Sora grabbed an egg and her eyes widened in surprise and glee when a sudden large gust of wind lifted her up.

Killua chuckled lightly at the now-not-hooded-girl who failed to mask her obvious excitement with a straight face, her twinkling eyes gave it away.

The group touched down on the cliff, each with an egg in their hold. A few minutes later, fresh boiled eggs were ready to be eaten.

"This is delicious," Sora commented in glee as soon as she took her first bite.

"I can see why they're called dream eggs," Kurapika sighed in contentment, enjoying every bite. The others nodded in agreement, silence fell around them as they enjoyed the dream eggs.

Killua didn't say much during the whole time but his expression clearly show the joy of a satisfied cat. And he definitely looked ready to jump back down to get another egg when his was done.

Sora looked at her half eaten egg then at the slightly sulking Killua then back at her egg. It won't hurt to share, right?

The girl split the egg into half, trudged closer to the boy and tapped his shoulder all the while eating the other half of the egg, her part.

Without much words, Sora shoved the other half of the egg to the boy's empty hands when he turned around then sauntered away as if she didn't do anything.

Perplexed, Killua stared blankly at the egg in his holding then at the girl who was eating the rest of her egg with a poker face. His eye twitched but munched the newly given gift nonetheless.

 _Boy, she's definitely weird!_

* * *

The second phase ended with only 42 participants left. Over 300 participants were eliminated in the phases and this is just the Second Phase. Sora was pretty sure that the other phases will be harder and more challenging. But she can't help but felt excited about it. She is a few phases away from her freedom!

But the two phases have finally taken their toll on her. Sora's very exhausted, both physically and mentally. As a result, she nearly tuned out all the introduction the Chairman had done, though she briefly heard that the old man likes the tension in the air so he'll be staying and watching them.

Next, the green blob, something or someone she easily recognized, announced the time they will arrive at the next destination and they're allowed to rest while waiting and dinner is served at the dining hall. And so one by one, people walked out of the room, looking for any place to rest or eat.

Covering her mouth while yawning, Sora wandered out of the room and stretched her arms. The girl grinned lightly when she heard the bones popped. That felt good! Now if only she could find a perfect place to rest. Another yawn escaped her mouth as she strolled aimlessly around the corridor.

Finding a secluded bench, Sora sat on it and neatly face planted on the window's railing. Really, she didn't care if her sleeping position was uncomfortable or weird for others as long as she can sleep.

 _...on second thought..._

The girl buried her face to her folded arms that were place on the white windows, blocking out the rest of the world with the dark fabrics.

 _Yep, much better..._

A couple minutes later, Sora drifted off to her dreamland. Her precious and restful moment lasted for around fifteen minutes before someone interrupted her sleep.

"Sora! There you are!" A familiar loud voice said.

Sora opened her eyes blearily and looked up from her folded arms. Stifling a yawn, Sora stared at the two figure before her, Gon and Killua, each with a piece of meat in their hands and a bright grin on both face.

"Come on! Let's explore the airship together!" Gon asked eagerly.

Sora was honestly torn between two options. One, ignore them, fell back asleep and got pestered to no end. Two, sacrifice her sleep and join them in their little exploring. As much as she would love to choose the first option, a look at Gon's large pleading eyes shattered her resolve.

"...alright," Sora answered shortly after a few seconds of pondering and stood up from her seat.

Killua curiously studied the currently hooded girl from the corner of his eye. She's an interesting girl indeed even for him. Albeit a bit weird as he could say it. First second, she could be quiet and calm, not speaking much. The next second she'll be childish and weird as hell. Even until now, he's still wondering her about the egg. Couldn't she gave it normally to him?!

What weirded out him the most is how she got intrigued about fire. The unknown gleam on her eyes when she saw fire somehow put him on edge. He couldn't shake off the feeling that she's possibly someone dangerous. And yet, seeing Sora rubbing her eyes slowly and drowsily with slouched stance, the threat level from her is almost none. Was he thinking about it too much?

"Hey Killua, Sora, look at this!" Gon pointed and ran to one of the windows. "The ground looks like it was covered in jewels!"

Killua nodded in agreement, completely forgetting his earlier suspicion and thoughts. "You're right!" He said enthusiastically.

Nearly all of Sora's sleepiness was gone, seeing the breathtaking view. Enjoying this kind of view is very rare and she was surprised that she never noticed it. Especially when she was right beside the window, facing it even, for around 30 minutes. Perhaps her exhaustion dulled her senses drastically.

"It's beautiful," Sora said in awe, leaning closer for a better look. Not as beautiful as fire at least for her but still, you won't get the chance seeing it often.

Gon's sudden question amused her slightly. "Hey, Killua, Sora, I was wondering... where are your mom and dad?"

It has been awhile since someone brought that up. Sora has never think much about her parents so hearing those words after a quite amount of time was kind of unexpected.

"Hmm, they're alive...probably" Killua answered him easily.

"What do they do?" Gon's innocent question continued to rain down.

"They're assassins."

"Eh? Both of them?" Gon looked shocked by Killua's unpredictable respond.

Sora however wasn't that much surprised and you could also say, she was quite relief from his answer. Knowing his identity gave her the chance to loosen up more around him. She had suspected him to be different from others. Someone who can sense other's killer intent must have a lot of experience in it.

"I'm pretty sure he meant both, Gon, they're _assassins_ ," Sora chose to add in, stressing the word assassins.

Killua let out a disbelief mix with relief laughter, hearing the two other kids serious response to his remark.

"Seriously? That's your first reactions? You guys really are riots!" he said in between his laugh and sat down on the bench.

"Huh?" Gon's confusion were shown at his next word as Sora frowned at him. Why would he laughed? It's not a really ridiculous answer for her.

"You two are the first people who's ever responded seriously!" Killua continued as he laughed harder, grinning from ear to ear.

"Well, you're telling the truth, right?" Gon asked innocently at him, not a single worry heard in his usual childish tone.

Killua abruptly stopped smiling as he stared seriously at them, any signs of humor were quickly washed away from his face.

"What makes you think that?"

"Just a hunch," Gon answered him.

"No one would joke around about stuff like that," Sora stated out her own reasoning, Gon nodded beside her.

"Besides..." Sora's eyes soften for a moment as if she was remembering something about the past and Killua took noticed of that split second. A brief knowing and gentleness flashed in her eyes.

"I don't really care what's your job or parents anyway," she continued, smiling lightly at him and patted his shoulder. "It's a friend's job to accept their friend no matter what, right?"

Killua widened his eyes at the answer and the brief emotions in her eyes. He hadn't expected that kind of answer from the usually cool and quiet girl. While he knew that Gon would simply answered him innocently, the girl was someone who's not that trusting and doesn't even talk much with him. He even doubted the girl has opened up to him. Therefore, hearing her answer really left him surprised and happy.

Sora herself, was surprised by her own words, really. She has accepted them as her friends already without knowing and hoped there won't be consequences.

"That's really fine with you?" He asked hesitantly. Sora nodded and sat down beside him, still smiling.

"You should tell us more about your family, Killua!" Gon piped in cheerfully from the side. Sora agreed with him. After all accepting or not, she's curious about his life too. Killua stared at them before looking at the window.

"I'm from a family full of assassins so they're all assassins. And my family has a really high hopes for me," Killua explained, smiling bitterly.

"But I can't stand it. Who wants to have their life planned out for them?"

"That's true," Sora said quietly.

"When I told them I wanted to decide my own future, they all snapped! My mother had tears streaming down her face, saying something about my potential, horrible right? We ended up fighting so I stabbed my mother in the face, my brother in the side, and ran away from home," Killua explained further as Gon laughed.

Sora mentally shook her head at Gon's naiveness. That boy took the words innocent and naive to a whole new level. She has never meet someone that gullible before him. But Sora knows that innocency would lead to something dangerous if Gon's too naive for the world.

"Tell us about your parents too, Sora!" Gon said, breaking her out from her thoughts. Sora blinked and tilted her head.

"Should I?"

"Mmm!"

Sora sighed audibly. There's no harm telling them anyway.

"My mother and father are dead, an accident took out both of their lives, I was...seven years old? I'm not sure, when that happen."

"What kind of accident?" Killua asked with a hint of uncertainty in his tone.

Just when Sora was about to open her mouth to answer, a sudden blast of killing intent was directed on their way and recoiled in shock. She had never felt a killing aura this strong before! The killing intent disappeared when Sora tried to see the one who caused it. At the same time, another presence appeared at the other side of the corridor.

Netero was walking down the corridor, approaching them. "Something wrong?"

Sora narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the old man and she knows her friends could sense it too. The only person she could think of that let out that much killing intent is the Chairman, considering he appeared as soon as the killing intent disappeared. And seeing his strength from earlier that day makes it more than possible.

Killua seems to be considering this too as Sora could feel the boy tensed up beside her and glared at the old man. Tension filled the air slowly.

Gon, who's obviously the most innocent person out of the people in that corridor turned to ask the old man and pointed at the direction the killer intent appeared. "Ah, Netero-san...did you see someone coming from that side?"

"No," Netero lied calmly, shaking his head. The white haired boy beside Sora deepen his glare. The girl continued to stare at the old man rather suspiciously and darkly.

"You're pretty fast for an old man," Killua commented seriously.

"Ehh? That little trick? I barely moved though," the old man said.

Next second after that, the Chairman had proceeded to do a little interview section about the exam so far and what they thought about it, with teases here and there from the old man. Sora had stayed quiet all that time, opening her mouth only to give the old man short answers and went back observing any threat from the old man. You should never let your guard down beside frighteningly strong people.

A sudden strange and suspicious offer from Netero perked up her interest a bit as she crossed her arms. "Would you like to play a game with me?"

Who could resist that kind of offes especially when the rewards if you win is that you'll immediately become a Hunter. The opportunity was too precious to pass.

The old man lead them to a gym-like room then left to change into a more comfortable clothes and came back with a ball balanced on his index finger for the 'game'.

"Now the rules are simple, the only thing you need to do is to take the ball away from me," Netero explained.

The first turn goes to Killua as Sora watched him with mild interest at what he's going to do. Again for the umpteenth time that day, the boy succeeded in surprising her when he started to make clones of himself while walking. She was confused at who's the real one to be honest. They looked all the same for her. One of the assassin's ability and the real one is probably the middle one Sora decided after some time of thinking.

His attempt was a failure of course when Killua kicked the man and hoped back with an injured leg.

"You okay there?" Sora asked worriedly as the boy took a seat beside her. Killua nodded, still holding his leg. Sora shot him an apologetic look and said that she doesn't have anything to ease the pain. The boy shrugged nonchalantly, not minding at all.

The next one was Gon but there wasn't anything that surprising from him. His attempts are as clear as water. Though being said, that really high jump surprised her greatly.

"Sora!" Gon called out as he held up a hand for her to high five with.

Sora, originally wasn't going to participate in the game, even for the very VERY tempting reward. The short amount of time of sleep hasn't fully recharged her energy back and seeing the old man's performance, she doubted she'll get the ball.

Gon's eyes once again shattered her earlier resolve and she found herself standing in front of the Chairman, hood's down and sleeves folded up.

Fixing the black arm warmer worn on her right arm, Sora took a deep breath and lunged forward at the ball, full speed.

Netero took a step to the side, dodging the outstretched hands from the Sora as the girl skidded to a stop, twirled around and kicked the man's side hard enough to make the Netero falter for a bit and nearly dropped the ball.

 _'Not bad for a girl, her speed and strength were good enough to falter me_ ,' the old man thought. _'But...she's too reckless..._ '

Sora yelped in pain and clutched her leg after the impact and she could hear Killua shouted something about her being an idiot and she should have learnt from his mistake.

Waiting for the pain to subdue, Sora decided that contact with the old man's body will only bring pain and more frustration. Using tonfa would prevent them...she hoped.

"Can I use anything to help me?" The girl asked as she ran back, jumped and dove forward toward the ball.

The old man simply nodded, curious at what the girl's up to as he easily dodged her attack.

The girl automatically did a front roll when she landed, immediately regretting it as pain flared back at her left wrist. Sora has almost forgotten her injury back from the First Phase.

Sora took her tonfas and shook them for a sec before chain sprouted out from their bottom, a single spike at the tip of the chain. Gon stared at the chain in awe while Killua whistled in surprise.

Netero raised an brow at the almost floor-length chain and wondered what other thing she has up on her sleeves.

Sora bent down again, swung one tonfa forward and the chain rattled as it shot out and wrapped itself around Netero's legs. The other tonfa, she swung it and aimed the chain at the wrist where the man was holding the ball, successfully wrapping itself again.

The Chairman stared at the chain and tried to pry them off, they only loosened up for a bit. The sudden pull from the girl caught him off guard. While it doesn't manage to bring him down, the ball fell out of Netero's grasp and rolled away in a very slow motion. It stopped between the old man and the girl, leaning more to Sora.

The ball was so close to the girl that Killua and Gon held their breaths in anticipation.

Sora could feel her heart beat viciously inside her chest as she sprinted to the ball and stretched her fingers to reach it.

Only to trip at her own weapons.

The girl hadn't been paying attention but Netero had easily used the chain around his wrist to sweep the girl off from her feet.

Missing the momentum, Sora neatly crashed into the wall.

Silence fell in the room as the ball strangely rolled back to Netero and he picked it up quickly.

Killua was the first to break the silence in the room with a frustrated shout. "GOD DAMMIT Sora! You nearly had the ball!"

Netero calmly pried off the chain wrapped around his legs and wrist before looking at them girl, who's nursing her red forehead and nose. The girl surprised him with her skills but she still lack in experience and obviously need to learn more.

Sora glared briefly at the man and grabbed back her weapons. A shake and the chain retracted back with a 'swish', being strapped back to her belt. Groaning lightly, she took a seat beside Gon, an impressed expression on his face, though she ignored it. She had been so close! Was her exhaustion that bad until she trip on her damn weapons? Probably. Was it her balance? Maybe. Recklessness? Possibly.

The girl now chose to watch the 'game' instead after failing the first try. It was as if all of the energy she had charged when she slept were gone at that one attempt.

Killua and Gon continued to take turns in getting the ball till Netero suggested they attacked him simultaneously. And for unknown reason, Sora was pulled along into the 'game' again, despite her protest.

And now here she was panting hard even after the unison attacks from three people. Her tonfas were thrown to the other side of the room during the whole time and mentally, she asked forgiveness from the weapons for being thrown the second time. Dragging herself to the wall beside her tonfas, which is fortunately not that far, Sora took off her jacket and folded it into a pillow.

"You're amazing, Netero-san! Really amazing!" Gon exclaimed in awe.

"Yep," Sora agreed, barely a whisper but others caught it with their sharp hearings.

"Forget it...I give up. I lost!" Killua announced, beyond pissed before turning to walk away, his shirt clenched tightly in his hand.

"Why? We still have time. And just now we came really close!" Gon stated excitedly.

Killua then began explaining how the old man hasn't even used his right hand and left leg, much to Gon's shock and disappointment.

"Let's go, Gon, Sora."

The former assassin looked shocked when Gon declared that he's still playing. The boy had refused to give up, this time playing with a new goal, make Netero use his right hand.

Killus turned his head when he received no response from Sora, only to find himself staring at a sleeping maroon head, jacket being used as pillow, tonfas beside.

Still pissed but in a much better mood than before after looking at the peacefully sleeping girl, Killua left the room to god knows where.

* * *

 **Longest chapter I've ever written in my life! Longer than beforeeeee...4000+ words xD A surprised even for me °~°**

 **I'm sorry for the three weeks wait but hey, at least this is longer than before, right? :3 and I can't write fight scenes so sorry if it's sucky…**

 **Replying review~:**

 **Ohhplease:** I'm really glad you like Sora :D and stay tuned for the third phase~ something will be in there~

 **Thank you so much for the favorites and follows too! They meant a lot to me~**

 **Reviews are very appreciated! (~** **)/**

 **See you at the next chapter!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: This is only the third time I'm doing this, yet...I'm kinda lazy doing it. Hunter x Hunter is not mine!**

 **Enjoy~**

* * *

A loud chiming sound that strangely resembled an airport announcement woke Sora up from her deep and peaceful slumber. Still groggy after waking up, Sora glanced around in confusion for a bit before her eyes landed on Gon, who was lying not far from her, eyes fully open.

She was still in the gym like room apparently. In the exact same spot as she was hours ago. But long after Sora fell asleep, a sudden wave of killing intent abruptly woke her up. After that, her eyes were peeled open for any possible threat that was approaching. But tiredness dragged her back into void of darkness and she fell back sleeping.

"Morning Sora!" Gon greeted her cheerfully.

"Morning Gon," The girl responded with a smile and sat up, leaning her back to the wall.

"I apologize for the long wait, the airship will soon arrive at the destination," A voice from the speaker announced.

In contrast to Sora who slowly put her jacket back on, strapped back her weapons and slung back her bag, Gon began bouncing around the room and started clinging to a wall like a monkey, staring outside of the window.

Sora shook her head fondly at the boy's unpredictable amount of energy and quietly left the room, heading toward the dining hall in hope of getting some food. Apparently, the Hunter Association didn't serve any breakfast. Sora walked away to join the others, disappointed. And she was definitely not pouting!

The girl had stopped in the bathroom to wash her face before joining the others, erasing any traces of sleepiness and refreshed her mind. Her hair was still slightly unkempt like usual, maybe even more unkempt now. Still, she didn't bother to fix it.

Once she was done, the girl exited the bathroom and went to where the participants gathered together. The blimp landed on top of a really tall cylinder building with no doors or windows. Participants slowly filed out of the blimp and looked around curiously.

"Everyone, the exam's third phase will begin here at the top of Trick Tower," Bean announced after clearing his throat to gain attention. "To pass this phase, you must reach the tower's base alive. The time limit is seventy-two hours. With that, we will now begin the Third Phase. I will pray for your success."

And with that, the blimp along with the still unknown species mini green guy left them on top of the tower, not before wishing them good luck.

Gon was the one who kneeled down and looked over from the edge, followed by Sora who again leaned down too far, much to Leorio's chagrin. Killua had once again grabbed her hood involuntarily, forcing the girl to land on her butt. Sora briefly sent a glare at him which the boy stuck his tongue out at.

Fatherly instinct or what, Leorio patted the girl's head out of relief, missing the girl's glare who sharpened. Sora placed her hood back with a huff and sighed. What's with people and touching her head?

"Are we supposed to climb down?" Leorio asked in fear, regarding their current task.

"That would be suicide..." Kurapika reasoned out.

"Maybe for a normal person," A voice stated out suddenly from behind them and simultaneously, the little group turned their heads to it. A muscular man with the number 86 pinned to his chest was standing with his arms crossed, a smug look clearly planted on his face.

The man started to climb down in a fairly fast pace, impressing the three youngest kids.

"But for a top-class rock climber can handle this, no problem." He had proudly as he bragged about his ability.

Shortly after that, a strange winged creature swooped down on him and carried him away. Obviously to fill up its stomach with the newly captured prey.

"Thought so..." Sora blurted out after a few moments of silence at watching the flying creature away.

"G-guess we can't climb down on the side," Leorio shakily said. Others nodded in agreement.

"You expected this to happen?" Kurapika asked her. Sora shrugged lightly.

"It's called Trick Tower, it wouldn't be possible if you could climb down without any obstacles," She answered, "I'm sure it's a lot harder than that."

Kurapika agreed with her reasoning and the group split up to search for any way down. At a closer look, the number of examinees slowly became less and less. Somehow, the participants found their way inside the tower and were heading to the exit somewhere downwards. Sora was completely aware about it and silently, she was anxious. There is nothing there at all.

Sora walked around alone, away from Gon and Killua for a while. Before long, she accidently came upon a loose tile that descended slightly when she stepped on it.

Noticing it, the girl retraced her steps back and crouched down beside the tile, pressing her palm onto it. The tile descended again and Sora finally realized what was going on.

The tower was solely made out of tiles, some of which were trapdoors. The participants needed to enter through one of the trapdoors to move on. The tile she had come upon was used by someone already so no matter what she did, the tile wouldn't flip open.

It seems Gon has noticed this too for he had called her and both Leorio and Kurapika to gather around him.

Sora approached Gon slowly but before she could even reach him, a tile flipped open underneath her and she fell through it. After shrieking in panic and shock, of course.

 _I should have expected this to happen too!_

* * *

The boys stared at the spot where the girl had disappeared into. Three in expectedness and one in shock.

"That's what Gon is trying to tell us just now," Killua said. "But seems like Sora found out about it already."

Kurapika nodded in thoughtfulness while Leorio was still left flabbergasted. Gon then explained what he had discovered whilst pointing out four different spots around them. Gon also stated that the tile Sora went through is farther than any other four tile so the chance of it being a trap is highly possible.

A certain albino kid put his hands into his pockets at Gon's statement, then looked away. He wouldn't express it aloud, but he was kind of worried about her. Let's just say the boy had developed more care for the girl than he had expected, due to her surprising declaration of being his friend. He knew the girl could defend herself even when she faced danger, judging from her performance in the blimp.

Sora would handle herself just fine. And with that, all thoughts of worry disappeared.

The four boys then picked one of the doors to their choice, bid their farewell and jumped on them. Unexpectedly meeting again a few moments later.

There was no sign of the hooded girl.

* * *

With a 'thud', Sora landed hard on her butt. The girl mentally scowled when she randomly noted it was the second time she fell on her butt that day.

Gon's prediction wasn't right but it wasn't wrong either. Sora did land in a different room from them, but clearly it wasn't a trap.

The room was too dark for her to see anything and she stood up blindly. After a while, her eyes successfully adjusted to the dark and she looked around.

Small, stuffy and full of bricks was what she observed from the room. Even when her eyes have adjusted to the dark, she could barely see more than three meters from where she stood. She needed something, something that would help her see…

Fire! How could she forget about her precious matchbox?

Having that thought in mind, Sora fished out the small box and struck one match, lighting it up. Though it was a small fire, it helped to brighten up the room slightly and Sora saw a closed door and a counter at a corner on her right. The fire also helped her to relax and cheered her up lightly.

Walking closer to the counter, the girl spotted a stopwatch placed on top of it. A little tilt upwards and you could see a red light blinking slowly. Sora suspected the red light was a surveillance camera used to monitor their actions.

Her suspicion was spot on when the red light seems to follow every movement she made. Sora tapped the camera lightly, signaling the person behind it that she knew he or she was watching. Not long after she did that, a male voice blared out in the room.

"I praise your sharp senses even with the help of your little tool," The voice said. Sora turned her head toward the source of the voice, a speaker placed on another corner of the room.

"Welcome, I'm Lippo, this phase examiner. You may start your phase now, good luck!" The voice introduced and instructed. With those words, a crackle sounded and silence fell back into place. Her match died down without warning and Sora lit up another match, throwing away the useless one.

"He said to start the phase but what should I do?" Sora said to herself, glancing around then glanced down at the stopwatch, sitting there harmlessly. There must have been a reason why it was put there. Maybe she should try wearing it?

As soon as she slipped the stopwatch to her wrist, numbers appeared on it. Seems like the numbers was the countdown for her time inside the tower. Below them were two buttons, O and X.

She noticed there was a closed door as the screen of the watch sparked to life. The screen was bright enough to light up the whole room. Sora stared at the fire sadly as it slowly died down like before. She decided not to struck another match, saving them for later use. What would she do if she ran out of matches?

It would definitely become hell for her.

Fixing her attention back to the screen, Sora began to read what was written on it.

"Questions will be given and your choice will determine your fate, be careful of what you have chosen," Sora read aloud in a low mumble.

"Questions?" She questioned, her eyebrows creased into a frown.

The words then disappeared slowly before they were replaced by another set of sentences.

"Which button do you think will open the door? O or X?"

The question read.

Sora raised an eyebrow at the question and pondered over it. Obviously, the answer is O but, like she stated before, this is Trick tower. It won't be as easy as that. In the end, Sora chose to press the X button after debating with her own thought.

A spike thrust out of the door and Sora dodged before it could impale her. The spike hit the other side of the room with a 'clank' then reverted back to its former place.

The girl paled as she stared at the unexpected trap that was set up. If she was a few seconds late, she'd have metal impaling her. Wrong answers would trigger surprise attacks that are lethal, Sora concluded.

The girl quickly pressed the other button and spikes thrust toward her for the second time in a different place. They rained down from the ceiling and Sora barely got time to crouch down. The spikes quietly went back up.

Disbelief look was seen on her face as she looked back and forth between the stopwatch and the screen. Why didn't it open the door? Did she press the wrong button earlier?

Another press in the X button and spikes appeared from beneath her. Luckily, she jumped back in time.

With a twitching eye, Sora pressed the O button again and rolled over when a spike attempted to impale her from her right side, barely missing her torso.

Countless of dodging after that and finally, Sora figured it out. The girl pressed the buttons at the same time just as she dodged a spike from below.

The door cracked open slowly in a very dramatic motion.

Sora could only think about two things on her mind.

Should I be happy that I opened the door or be annoyed at the answer?

She chose to do neither, a deadpan look on her face, and approached the door. The screen showed a text, a different one again this time.

"Congratulations! You have passed the first question!" Sora read out loud. So it seems like the questions are really messing with her.

.

.

.

Right, now she was definitely annoyed.

The screen slowly died down, engulfing the room in black. The long road ahead of her was as dark as the room and Sora had no choice but to step inside.

Torches flared up as soon as she stepped to the another side. Walls were lined up beside her, forming a somewhat narrow corridor but wide enough for two people to fit in.

You could probably guess what Sora was doing.

Either staring at the torches or attempting to touch the flickering fire. She failed in doing the second one obviously. Her eyes were twinkling in deliriousness and a flash of madness in her eyes, but it quickly disappeared.

The door connecting the room and the corridor closed with a 'thump.' The girl took a few seconds to process it before realizing that the door had indeed closed by itself.

Finally snapping out her trance, Sora continued her journey down the path. What awaited her was probably endless challenges, which were designed to manipulate the mind and drive a person to insanity and madness.

It was a shame that it was too late.

* * *

 **Sorry for the shorter chapter guys :( I want to end it in cliffhanger but it seems like I failed xD**

 **Anyway, thank you so much for everyone who have fav, follow and review the last chapter! I'll be replying to your reviews now~**

Mayagi **: Thank you! And it's fine, take as long as you like to read it :) I'll accept you as my beta reader~ and thanks for betaing this chapter :D**

ASimpleRaven **: I am very happy with your thought. Never expected anyone to score my fanfic xD but I really like your opinion about it. Unfortunately, I'll be rejecting your offer as a beta reader DX I'm sorry... I'll be sure to ask questions to you to improve my fanfic.**

CaN'T-lIFe **: I'm really glad you like Sora and the characters development~ They'll interact soon again. When is, I haven't decided yet xD**

havanatitiana **: Thanks for your review and your thought about it~**

 **Thanks again for those who have fav, follow and review last chapter~ all of them are appreciated :D**

 **See you again!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I, KuroRinkusu don't own HxH!**

* * *

The ceiling of the corridor Sora was walking on gradually became lower and lower. Sora just noticed it when the torches were gone and she was forced to crawl to resume the taken path. The fire had a mesmerizing effect. Sora mentally hit herself for being too focused on it. The ceiling didn't stop lowering after she was forced to crawl on the rough ground. The ground was really rough now that she felt it. Her sneakers did a good job in hiding that.

Following, she was forced to prone. Prone like a baby unable to crawl yet. The ceiling had descended down to something unbelievable for her. Sora felt as if she were a worm forcing its way out of the ground.

It was a good thing she didn't need to prone for too long. The ceiling had slowly went back up and created more spaces to move. From prone, to crawl, to crouch and at last, she could stand up without slouching. Torches came into view, lighting up the corridor back.

The lower half of Sora's body scraped against the floor for - Sora glanced at her watch- fifty minutes, nearly an hour. Time sure flew past, Sora didn't even feel it.

Sixty-nine hours and twenty-five minutes with seconds that ticked away.

That was her current time.

Now that she has wider space, Sora went back, walking with faster pace this time, her knees throbbed every once in a while. Before that she had poured the water contained in her bottle on her wounds, attempting to clean it. It stung, obviously, yet Sora, per usual, ignored it. She would be really glad if she found some alcohol for better cleansing but in this condition, water is enough. Her other bottle didn't contain the former unfortunately.

Sora's steps came to a stop in front of another door with a screen. This time, the screen let out a dull light, in contrast to the previous. Two words and two letters were written in red on it, sending shiver to anyone except her.

"Proceed? O or X?"

Nothing else was written except those words. Maybe that was the question Sora decided silently in her mind.

Sora chose to be simple minded and picked the 'O'. Immediately, the door swung open and all the torches along that corridor died out, consuming everything in darkness. The only light being red words and the neon green numbers on the watch that kept on changing.

The girl - who was dumbfounded by the fact how simple it was before - became fully alert. Her eyes narrowed and glanced around warily, waiting for any strikes or anything, but found none. She allowed herself to calm down a bit and took slow, careful steps through the door.

Just like before, the door closed behind her once she took a step forward. Sora observed the room through her limited vision.

The room was very different from before. A four-by-four area room. Walls four meters high were spread out at least three meters from in front of her, forming another set of walls. Not a single torch to be seen. In the distance, a second path to the right appeared in the corridor. The girl quickly guessed that it was a maze with the high walls. It was large and dark, reminding Sora of a chasm.

On cue, Lippo's voice rang out inside the room.

"Welcome to the Labyrinth of Abyss Here, you'll play a hide-and-seek game with the prisoners within a time limit of six hours," Lippo explained cheerily.

Sora looked around the room for any speaker and found one in a corner after walking around the room. The girl stood nearer and listened to the explanation quietly while crossing her arms.

"Your task is to arrest the prisoners who were currently out on loose in here, every time you arrest one, their sentences will be added 30 years," Lippo continued.

Hearing the word 'sentence', Sora stiffened considerably. That goes unnoticed to Lippo who smirked from behind the surveillance camera.

"To do that, just stick the blue darts on that other corner of the room to any parts of their body and you caught one!"

Sora nodded stiffly and approached the blue darts she found in one corner before Lippo's voice resound again.

"However if you fail to arrest all the prisoners by the end of the time..." His voice stopped for suspense then continuing, "you'll be the one who got arrested with the added time!"

Sora froze mid-way in taking the darts before turning back her attention to the speaker.

"He knows?" Sora mumbled out quietly, a frown etched on her pale face.

 **He** should have cover her tracks until now. That's what **he** said anyway. Now, she's not sure anymore. A few Hunters have been sent out to hunt for her but they failed to catch her by **his** help. Maybe those Hunters in the past were amateurs. The examiners clearly were more professional, who could get a lot of information.

The smirk on Lippo's face widened.

"So, what do you do now, Hellfire?" A mocking tone. Sora chose not to answer his taunting and quietly went to the entrance of the maze but not entering, waiting for more explanation from the examiner.

"I've given you something to help you in this maze, it's on the left side of this room actually," Lippo stated. Sora's frown deepened at that. If he wanted to arrest her in the first place, why would he gave her something to aid her in this game? With that thought aside, Sora approached the said object and crouched down to pick it up.

"A sprayer?" Sora said curiously as she inspected the object in her hand. It's a wonder why she didn't notice it when she first observed the room. The girl sprayed it around and the smell of what seems like alcohol hit her nose. A smirk formed on her face as she stored it safely on her bag. Oh, the examiner would regret giving this to her.

"With that, your second trial has begun! But one more thing..."

Confused at his trailed away words, Sora failed to notice a bullet was shot toward her. The sharp pain she felt made her looked downward to the right side of her chest where she could see blood began to seep out, some managed to drip down on the ground.

A shocking thing is after a while, the blood stopped flowing and was replaced with a yellow flame. The flame helped in barely lightening up the room. Too shocked to completely register what happened, Sora looked at the barely seen speaker for any explanation.

"Ah, that is a special bullet that indicates you are the Cat in this game and as you can see, it sucked your energy bit by bit to the point you won't even be able to move your limbs," Lippo cheekily explained.

"So better finish it fast, Good luck!" And the speaker crackled out, silencing any further questions.

Sora stood there for a while, her hand went to her chest where the flame was. It seemed harmless. No sign of her hand getting burned. Not even pain. Yet, Sora felt her energy very slowly depleting. She needed to catch the Mice(?) in this game quickly.

Six darts. That was the amount of darts she had in her grip. It was safe to assume there were six prisoners.

Pocketing the darts, Sora walked ahead to the maze, entering it then proceeded to turn right. The path branched off into three after that. It was a known fact that people usually selected the path led to the right side. Being the unusual girl she is, Sora picked the left path, defying the fact.

Several meters after she entered, Sora noticed the footsteps behind her in a quite fast pace and immediately she turned around to throw the dart. Unfortunately, with her lack of vision in the dark, Sora missed the knife that was being wielded. Her dart clanged on the ground, missing her target just as she defended herself from the knife at last second, only to get slice on her arm.

Sora quickly lit up her match, just in time to catch a glimpse of cloak that disappeared at a corner. She tried to listen for any sound of footsteps but silence greeted her.

The girl picked the fallen dart and stared at her bleeding arm. The knife had torn her jacket's sleeve and she could see the wound as a result.

Sora folded up her sleeve to inspect it better. The wound was somewhat deep and she was silently glad for it. That means her blood was left on the weapon and if the figure was in hurry, there's a possibility that it will leave a trail.

To answer your question, no, she's not a masochist.

The girl poured water over the wound, ripped the edge of her jacket and wrapped it around the wound to stop the bleeding. Just when the cloth was being tied, blood had already soaked it again. Sighing, Sora left it that way.

Sora turned back to the path where she's from and stalked over her first prey. Much to her delight, there was actually blood splatters on the ground. Not much but it was there. She followed the trail of blood, making sure to be as quiet as possible.

Right, left, straight, then nothing. A dead end. Her Mouse must have noticed it and decided to clean their weapon.

The girl was displeased at the sight but continued to walk through the now bloodless corridor. Abruptly, her hood was yanked away and as a result, Sora nearly lost her balance. Instantly, the culprit swept past her and sprinted away. The soon to be victim had heavier footsteps than before and the girl suspected that the figure was a different person.

Sora growled and chased after the figure even when her match flickered out. Her knees were screaming to stop. The louder footsteps made it easier for Sora to detect them.

As if sensing that Sora would catch up, the cloaked figure increased their pace. In turn, Sora increased hers. Bit by bit, the none-hooded girl was right on their tail.

Sadly, turns and twists made it difficult for her to throw the dart precisely at the figure's back. Every time she took aim, the figure would turn into a corner and disappeared into another corridor. It frustrated her greatly.

All of a sudden, the prey stopped dead in their tracks and Sora followed suit, seeing what's before them. A high wall like others loomed over them, preventing them from going any further. To put it simple, a dead end.

So, the prisoners weren't given any maps, hints or anything about this place either. If they had, they wouldn't get caught in a dead end. Or perhaps this was a scheme from her target to delay her. Sora couldn't really see the target's expression well but from their body language, it can be assumed that the target didn't expect this.

Sora smirked at the founding and sprinted forward, dart in hand, as she tried to stab it into the figure's shoulder.

Only to meet with a sudden burst of gas to her face. Sora gasped in surprise thus inhaling a quite large amount of gas when she began to feel her head spin and her vision blurring. Not to mention the feeling of being pierced repeatedly nearly made her scream.

Sora realizing it too late, quickly stumbled back, nearly slumping on the ground in the act. It was a poisonous gas that was sent out and she had idiotically inhaled it!

The figure chuckled in a deep voice, identifying their self as a man.

"That poison is called Deadly Piercer. When inhaled, it will put the inhaler into a half conscious state and immobilize you at the same time where they would gradually feel the pain of being stabbed all over their body, without an antidote, you'll die," the prisoner explained, chuckling all the while.

Through her blurry and darkening vision, Sora could see the prisoner walking away from her. Staggering to chase after him, she half expected herself to fall over. Sora made a self-promise not to give in to the poison's effects.

Unaware of the girl's intention, the prisoner casually strolled away from there when the man felt a prick on his nape. Looking back with worry, the man was beyond shock to see the girl still moving, hand outstretched and a victorious grin plastered on her now paler face.

The man realized one thing. He had been arrested.

An alarm rang across that giant room and a speaker blared out.

"ONE HAS BEEN ARRESTED! ONE HAS BEEN ARRESTED!" It repeated.

The man smirked.

"Too bad, you have to search for the antidote."

Sora glared at him and managed to stagger closer to him. With a high kick to the jaw, Sora watched in surprised as the man was knocked unconscious. The man was really weak. Following, Sora's knees planted themselves on the ground. That kick used all up her energy.

The girl crawled slowly to the man and began searching for any antidote, rummaging beneath the cloak. After a few minutes searching, she found it.

It was a small blue vial with a silverish gray cap on it. Inside, purple liquid splashed around. Sora uncap the bottle and drank it. The effect was slow but slowly the pain stopped.

Sora exhaled out deeply and stood up with effort. The poison's effect was still there but has lessen drastically. Silently, the girl left the blacked out man with one thought on her mind.

 _One caught. Five more to go…_

* * *

 **Sora's name means 'sky' if you're wondering.**

 **Question: why do you think Sora was able to withstand the poison?**

 **Hint: it has a connection with her name and who she was inspired by ;)**

 **And who is 'he'? :3**

 **I'm sorry for the late updates! My internet is being a jerk lately.**

 **Thank you so much for those who have favorite, follow and review in the last chapter! You all really made my day!**

 **Time to reply to your reviews:**

Kri **: It's only a bit though :P maybe a spark of something? And your suggestion...*rubs hand together* I'll do it *grins***

Keelan1210 **: I tried to make it that way~ her exam will get harder or easier, guess :3**

Mayagi **: Thank you for betaing~ and oh yes, I'll change it when I get the chance. Thanks for the reminder and your really brilliant idea! And thank you for promoting my story!**

SupremeGeneralJoker **: I'm really glad you like her and found her creepy and nice xD I'm trying to make her that way~**

taran taran: **Thanks for the review :D and what does next place mean? XD Sorry for my denseness**

 **I hope you all enjoy this chapter and I'll definitely do my best to satisfy you all!**

 **By the way,**

 **Happy Chinese New Year! Sorry for the really really late greeting**

 **See you at the next chapter :D**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: This little author here doesn't own Hunter x Hunter!**

 **You know, I'm thinking about changing Sora's, Gon's and Killua's age to 14 or 15. Twelve is a... bit too young? *sweats* I think I'll write better if they were around that age. Please tell me your answers in reviews :3**

 **Though, there's a 90% chance I will change their age :P**

 **And yes, I changed the story title.**

 **But first of all, enjoy this chapter please~**

* * *

After the first prisoner was arrested, the maze became slightly brighter, enough for Sora to see at least a meter away from her. Bit by bit, the pain left her body until it was only a tingling pain. Despite that, she was sure there's still some poison left in her body. As long as it didn't bother her, she didn't mind.

So far, no prisoners were seen or heard. They must have been staying hidden. Minutes passed, not even the slightest sound except her rhythmic footsteps were heard. In every passing second, Sora was getting more and more desperate. At this rate, she wouldn't arrest anyone else. She checked her time. Luckily, only an hour had passed.

A figure standing not far from her made Sora stop dead in her tracks. Her hand slowly took out a dart before she carefully aimed it at the figure. However, Sora could only dodge a kick from the figure before the person turned around and dashed off.

It was a too precious opportunity for her to miss. Immediately, the girl sprinted after the figure, creating another cat and mouse game. That time, the figure was faster and lighter than the first arrested prisoner. She would have a harder time catching the new target, especially when she lost the figure's track.

Sora observed that they had similar steps to the person who attacked her first. Faintly, she remembered that the target carried a knife.

As if answering her thought, a knife whizzed past her face which she successfully dodged but barely. Something trickled down on her cheek and Sora raised her hand to wipe it. Red liquid dirtied her hand as she stared at it in surprise. Apparently, she hadn't fully dodged the projectile.

The girl heard a soft click of the tongue from the knife thrower and the rustling of cloak. Lessening their gap, Sora quickly threw the dart in her hand, aiming for the back. Her dart never reached her target. Instead, three knives were thrown to her and one clashed with the dart. Losing the ability to fly, the dart fell to the ground.

Sora ducked down just in time as three knives whizzed above her head and she scooped up her dart at the same moment.

The target had more than one knife she concluded. Sora didn't know the exact numbers of knives either. Sora scowled. The chase was getting harder.

Knives by knives were thrown and each time, more knives were thrown. From three to six to nine and lastly, they ended up being thrown in a dozen. The corridor unfortunately limited her movement in dodging. Cuts that fortunately weren't deep littered her body.

Though Sora found out something about the prisoner. Every time the person threw a group of knives, the person would stop for a moment before dashing back. Sora used that chance to catch up to the target.

Sora was idly surprised when only two knives started flying toward her. Not six or twelve or any other numbers. The girl easily dodged it as they sailed, each beside her face.

Sora waited for any knives to fly past her but nothing came. The girl suspected that the person ran out of their knives. And that was good news. Still, she didn't let her guard down. What else could be hidden inside that thick cloak?

Just like she suspected, a knife lodged itself on the wall near her and another on the other side. Four more knives followed suit in pairs and planted themselves on the wall. The pairs being planted lower and lower.

Sora found it weird that no knives were aimed to her and tensed up when the person she had been chasing for minutes suddenly stopped and turned around. Her instinct screamed at her to stop running and Sora trusted herself. She stopped.

"I suggested that you shouldn't move any longer if you want to live," A quiet, cold voice echoed from the figure. It was a woman's voice, no doubt. With an age that was somewhere between 19-23 Sora guessed.

"What do you mean?" Sora narrowed her eyes and took a step forward, this time ignoring her warning instinct, when she felt her skin and clothes got cut. Even her bare legs were cut. A trickle of blood flowed out from the small wounds. The girl took a few steps back in surprise and all of a sudden her back was cut. It's a good thing she wore several layers below. Something was trapping her and it was very sharp. Sora stood at the place where there wasn't any cutting occurred.

"Did you feel it?" The prisoner asked with somewhat of a gleeful tone. Sora frowned and pointed a finger in front of her. Small beads of blood were around the finger as she retracted her it. That "something" cut her again.

"Keep on moving and you'll be a sashimi in no time," The prisoner commented as Sora briefly wondered what a sashimi is. She was pretty sure she had seen a sashimi, but where?

The slight sting in her face snapped her back to reality. Another knife had grazed her. This time close to her left eye. Too close you could say. Sora turned her attention back to the source only to meet nothingness. The target had fled with vanishing sounds of footsteps, leaving Sora standing there alone.

An idea struck her as she turned her attention to the knives lodged into the wall. Upon closer inspection, there seems to be a something wrapped around the handle. Sora squinted her eyes for a better look and found out that a thin wire was that something that was wrapped.

Her still squinted eyes followed where the wire was connected to another knife. Focused on all the knives and you get a wire web albeit very sharp. The case being the same. Sora concluded that the knives could be controlled by the person through the attached wires.

The knives were stuck to the wall. Sora tried to pull them off one by one but they wouldn't budge. Even if they did, it was only a bit. The girl sighed at both her losing strength and energy. The flame on her chest has drained more energy than she expected.

She attempted to crawl however, the knives were stuck until the floor. _Great…_ She thought bitterly.

Just then she got an idea. The chain connected to her tonfa could be used! Spinning them could make a cut with its spike. Though...

Sora glanced at the webs trapping her then visualized her floor length chain. The space around her was too small so spinning her chains will only make them get tangled up and untangling them would take an even longer amount of time.

Her eyes shifted to her bag where a perfectly harmless object could be dangerous once it's in her hands. Yep, that's right. The alcohol sprayer.

Sora struck out three matches at once before tossing the lit matches to the center of the web. Her hand swiftly took out the sprayer and her finger pressed the handle. Instantly, the matches combusted into a bigger fire, each of them then fused themselves into an even bigger fire that almost immediately burned the wires to ashes.

The smell would have been pleasant if not for the carbon monoxide and other smells mixed in the air.

A deranged smile threatened to split her face into half as she stared at the flaming wires. The path in front of her was cleared away in an instant when the wires turned to ashes. Bits of fire still remained on the ground before dying out.

"Fire, fire, fire, fire!" She hummed in delight as she continued her pursuit of her prey.

"Now where is she?" Sora mused, stifling a giggle at what would happen.

That prisoner had made a big mistake by forcing her to burn the wires. Sora chuckled as her eye color turned to something abnormal. From orange to something resembling the color of flame. A mixture of orange, yellow and red. As if the corridor was being lightened up by her eyes, her vision around increased.

In the corner of her eye, she caught movement. Without further delay, Sora sprinted after said movement. She hoped that they would end up at a dead end or something that blocked them.

Her prayer was answered when another large and high wall stopped the chase. The prisoner looked around in distress for any escape route as Sora stood in the middle of the narrow corridor, preventing the victim from creating another chase.

"A dead end, prey~" Sora cheerfully spoke out, a smile still on her face.

Her statement was answered with three knives being shot out, aimed toward her chest. Sora caught it easily and skillfully between her fingers.

"You still got wires tied to the handle?" Sora beamed happily as she stared at the connected wires to the prisoner's bandage hands. The sharpness must have injured the woman too.

Her unoccupied hand caught the knives that were aimed to her head. Sora waited as time passed, no knives were thrown.

"So these six knives were your last," Sora spoke out, walking closer. The visibly shaken body of the prisoner gave it away. Suddenly the knives in her hands were yanked away, cutting both palms as result.

"I see; I see..." Sora mumbled as she stared at the pouring blood. She faced the prisoner with a sickly sweet grin this time. The soon to be victim gulped down nervously. The girl she had trapped in her webs broke free and her sudden cheerful attitude scared her. Didn't she feel any pain?

"My turn!" Sora said cheerily. The prisoner held up her knives for protection as Sora abruptly closed her distance between them. The prisoner gasped in shock and backed away when her back hit the wall. Seeing the advancing Sora, the mouse in the chase was about to throw her knives. When a blue dart pierced her shoulder.

"TWO HAVE BEEN ARRESTED! TWO HAVE BEEN ARRESTED!" The alarm rang again.

The newly captured mouse slumped to the ground. Both in distraught and relief. Now she only needed to wait for the woman to be brought back to prison.

"Finally, it's done," The prisoner mumbled out.

"Who said we were done here?" Sora announced, her tone bubbly. The prisoner snapped her head toward her in horror when she saw the match clutched in Sora's hand and a sprayer in the other hand.

"W-wait!" The prisoner managed to croak out in pure terror as realization dawned on her. Sora stepped closer as she struck out her match in a quick flick. However, before she could cause another fire, her target was gone out of sight.

Replacing her target's place, a gaping hole was there and a tile directly covered it, leaving no chance for Sora to see what it stored. Though the maroon haired girl suspected that the hole led the prisoner to some place.

 _Missed your chance, eh?_

A voice rang inside her head.

It was so small, soft yet deep voice in her head that it might just be a mere hallucination. Nonetheless, Sora wasn't hallucinating anything. The voice was as clear as a water.

"It's been a few years since you last talked to me," Sora muttered, turning around and pocketed all of her things back. Inside, the voice chuckled darkly.

 _I can't talk to you even if I want. After all, you're the one who restrains me from doing anything..._

"I'm not going to let you do anything again," Sora hissed as she searched for the next mouse as well as the next victim.

 _But I saved you?_

The voice replied mockingly.

The burst of pain from her concealed right arm made her stop dead in her tracks. Sora folded up her jacket as searing pain coursed out through her body, her right arm being the source. A scream would have been heard if not for Sora's attempt in silencing it by biting her own cheek. Taste of metal filled her mouth as she slowly writhed in pain.

 _Have you forgotten that the pain in your arm was from me? And I was the one who stopped it too?_

"Stop...make it stop!" Sora whimpered in anguish. The wounds around her body couldn't compare to the pain she's feeling at the moment.

 _Oh ho, now you're begging?_

Sora uttered out a painful screech as the pain continued. After a few torturous minutes, the pain finally subdued, leaving Sora in the brink of fainting. Cold sweats slid down her cheeks, heavy exhausted breaths, her eyes closed at holding her pain.

 _See? You can't even deal with the pain and you hoped to escape from me..._

And with that, the voice disappeared as if it was not there at first place. Moments later, Sora steadily got up from her writhed position to standing up with shaky legs. Leaning to the wall for support, Sora took off her arm warmer.

She hadn't felt that kind of pain for some time. It's absence for this past few years had been a complete peace on her part.

She shouldn't have brought that event up as she stared at her right arm with a wince. Her arm was something too gruesome to see. It looked like a burn wound that didn't seem to get healed. Some flesh was visible while the rest is something like a skin got peeled off. A second degree burn that won't heal unless the person permitted it. Worse, the burn was nearly one whole arm with the exception of her shoulder.

Sora covered her arm back and sighed audibly. Good thing that wound only appeared after a painful and full of agony moment like just now. Other times, it would simply appear as a burn scar.

"I really do wish that Gon and Killua won't see this," Sora unconsciously whispered without her own knowing.

Following, Sora cleansed all the wounds and blood she had got prior those moments. She had completely forgot about them. Tearing back some part of her clothes, her wounds on her palms were wrapped.

Her sight caught the glimpse of fire and a distorted smile appeared on her face as she began another pursue. She needed to vent out her irritation and annoyance of the pains.

Yo ** _u_** h _a_ **v** _e_ m ** _a_** d _e a_ **m** _ist_ **a** _ke_ **b** _y lu_ ** _r_** _i_ **n** _g m_ **e** _w_ ** _i_** _th_ ** _f_** _i_ **r** _e~_

Her smile only widened as her thoughts mingled together with the "voice."

And perhaps her madness too.

* * *

 **And there you have it! And sorry for this crappy chapter...**

 **No one guessed the answers. I doubt "he" will be answered since I didn't give you any hint. Sorry xD**

 **The voice is not the "he" FYI :3**

 **For the first question from last chapter, I'll repeat it again.**

 **Why do you think Sora was able to withstand the poison?**

 **1st hint: It has a connection with her name and who she was slightly based off**

 **2nd hint: Involves bullets with babies and flames :D - the place her character based off existed and also the reason Sora withstand the poison. It's a pretty popular anime.**

 **That should be enough (°v°)**

 **Time to reply to reviews:**

Keelan1210 **: Am I? you're the first person who have ever said that to me xD. I don't know if I'm a sadist or not, I just like seeing Sora suffered :3 (** Sora: You're a horrible creator... Me: Yeah, I know **) and maybe you can answer the question after the given hint?**

havanatitiana **: I think I made it too hard... ehehehe... don't worry she will pass the trial... maybe xD**

SuperGeneralJoker **: I didn't give any hint at all so I expected that xD and stay tuned for that chapter or part~**

AJPJweallluvJJ **: Sora's somewhere between that? She is leaning more to pyromaniac though. A pyromaniac with a bit twisted sense of pyromania.**

Scribleyellow **: I'll do my best to update often :D**

NekoNyapii **: Thank you for review! I'm really glad that you thought that way. I tried NOT to make my fanfic where Killua would immediately fall for my OC upon their first meeting. A really big no for me *shakes head* Anyway, your answer is only partly right as it was not the real answer. But Sora, indeed has higher tolerance than most people.**

 **Thanks for all the favorites, follows and reviews! They made me feel very happy. No kidding.**

 **I'll end this before I start ranting :P**

 **See you at the next chapter :3**


	10. Chapter 10

**After dying and being resurrected, I'm finally back ●_●**

 **I'm sorry really really sorry for suddenly disappearing on you guys** **_** **Really. I can't express the guilt I'm feeling...**

 **The thing is, there are a few problems to why I didn't update.**

 **Second thing is... A very classic reason, I'm a lazy bum /slapped. Well not really, it's just that I kinda lost my motivation to this story. The second time** **:(** **Not to mention, I saw my friends being inactive and that brought me down. And this fandom is kinda dead (?) (or is it just me)**

 **But then, I re-read all the chapters I have written and realized that I wish to write their interaction again. Sora has become a character I missed writing (Her character profile was gone too to be honest). And, I have this vow that I made to myself. To never stops midway what you started.**

 **And you guys still remember this story even after nearly a year of no updates. I was surprised when someone PM me through wattpad asking for the time of update *laughs* Thank you \\('u** **'** **)/**

 **So...uh...I gathered up my motivation and tried to write this a best as I could *awkwardly scratches cheek* I'm sorry for the long author note and so...**

 **I present you, Chapter 10**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hunter x Hunter!**

 **It's decided that I will change their age into 14! Both Leorio and Kurapika's age will still be the same though**

 **Enjoy~**

* * *

Sora ran after the figure as soon as she spotted the torch in its hand. However, the figure turned and merely disappeared in a corner.

 _Too bad~_

"Oh, just shut up," Sora grumbled under her breath as she searched for any signs of fire. Did the person put out the fire or something? Since obviously Sora didn't see anything now. Sora tried to listen for any footsteps but she could only hear her own. Was it just her feeling but did each prisoner's footsteps keep getting more and more quieter?

The path in front of her split into three. Sora stopped running, looked at her watch and sighed in relief when only two hours had passed. She still had four more hours to go to capture the rest of the mice. With that, Sora looked back at the path and without thinking much, chose the left path.

 _Left, eh? Why?_

"Gut feeling?" Sora answered though it came out more as a question. The girl continued her path, this time walking briskly when she felt the tip of her nose get cut, drawing out blood. Sora blinked in surprise as she took a step back to avoid further injuries. It must have been the wires that she hadn't burned yet.

Matches and sprayer immediately held in her hands, Sora readied herself to burn the wires.

 _I have a better idea, girl._

The voice said, preventing her from burning the wires. Sora was about to voice out her opinion when a twisted idea popped in her head.

A smirk graced her pale face as Sora put back all her things and took out her tonfa. With a tap, spikes sprang out from its body. The girl stepped closer to the wire, but not too close, and slammed her tonfa into the wall beside a knife.

 _You read my mind._

Sora could somehow feel the voice smirking while saying that.

"You're in my head after all," Sora said, continuing to damage the wall, slowly crumbling it to pieces. After countless of hits later, the knife clattered on the ground.

"It worked!" Sora gleefully stated and instantly turned to the other knives. More than half an hour later, Sora had successfully taken out all the knives. Her arms felt sore and her knuckles hurt from gripping her tonfa too tight. It was for the sake of their idea.

Sora carefully put all six knives she got to her bag, wires wrapped around the handle so none of it got tangled up. Her smirk only widened as she thought about the idea she would do soon.

"It's going to be fun~"

Inside, the voice cackled in agreement.

With airy footsteps, Sora walked back to the path where it split since the path she's going now would only ended in a dead end. At the splitting, Sora pondered at what she should chose. Her question was quickly answered with a small fire at the end of the right path.

Grinning like crazy, Sora sprinted after the small ball of fire with speed faster than before.

A glance at Sora's face and you could tell that she was no longer in the state to think in normal sense. Her eyes held that wild look certain people have and they seemed to glow in the darkness. An insane smile was on her face.

The next victim didn't know what fate would befall on them.

Humming the same tune as before under her breath, Sora dashed after her current target.

Seeing Sora advancing very quickly, the victim could only increased their speed slightly before something stabbed their back.

It was not the dart.

The second stab was at the back of their knee and the third one was at their heel. Those three attacks were enough to decapitate the figure. With that, the figure touch the ground. The torch that was being carried clattered on the ground not too far from there.

"Score!" Sora tugged the wires and all the three knives flew back to her.

The figure desperately tried to crawl away in an attempt to escape from their incoming doom. Once again, a knife lodged itself to their back.

"It wouldn't be good if the prey escaped, eh?" Sora said cheerfully as she now walked closer. The knife was back in her hands.

"P-please s-spa-are me!" The figure cried out in pure horror. A male. A scared one. He quickly sat up and dragged himself further in vain. The maroon haired girl only replied to him with a smile before crouching down beside him.

 _Let's do it~_

Swiftly, Sora wrapped the wires around the male's body, stabbing the knives to the wall either side of them. Idiotically, the male tried to move, resulting the wires to cut him slowly.

He screamed in pain as the wires sank into his flesh, blood staining the ground even further. Sora chuckled darkly as she fished out a bottle with yellowish liquid inside. The prisoner could only stare in pure terror as the liquid was poured over his body.

"Now for the highlight," Sora grabbed the torch from the ground and slowly inched closer to the victim.

"N-no, pl-please n-no," The male trembled in fear when his hood was flicked off and he could finally see the demon clearly. A girl, no older than 14 stood there, smiling and waving.

The infamous criminal, Hellfire.

"Arios, you lied to me."

And those were the last words he hissed out before he combusted in flames and his screams full of agony echoed in the maze.

Sora stared at the dazzling things in front of her, completely mesmerized by its beauty. Her hand swept across the flickering fire, but she didn't feel any pain nor burn formed on her skin. Hands clamped to her cheeks, soft giggles escaped Sora's mouth before it quickly turned into a laughter. A laughter that would put anyone on edge. A laughter that is so dark, it wasn't supposed to be possible for a fourteen-year-old girl.

Gradually, the laughter died down and so did the fire. What remained of the prisoner was merely a lump of black. A skeleton clothed in black. Smoke coiled around. The smell of burnt meat filled the air. Sora stared dully at the corpse before her.

Quietly, Sora stabbed the third dart into what was left of the body. Surprisingly, it stuck albeit weakly.

"THREE HAVE BEEN ARRESTED! THREE HAVE BEEN ARRESTED!" Again, the alarm rang.

Shortly after the announcement, a hole opened like before and swallowed the corpse.

Sora blinked as if she didn't realize what had happened or to be more precise, what she had done. Her mind had been cleared with her last act. Her eyes turned back to their normal color, leaving no trace that they had ever changed. That burning had surely vented out all her frustration and annoyance for she felt nothing but lightness and relief.

She was aware that the "voice" inside her head had quietened down. That was fine, she could think in peace at least for several moments now. A frown replaced the sick smile on her face.

Arios, a name that sounded oddly familiar to her. But she couldn't remember where she had heard it. Sora shook her head quietly. She shouldn't pay much attention to that name. Now, she had a more pressing matter in hands. The "voice"

Why did he appear after years she had successfully buried him deep inside her?

Did her resolve waver?

While Sora was busy raking her brain for answer, deep inside the darkest pit of her mind where her consciousness couldn't even reach, a certain "voice" chuckled maliciously.

 _Soon...very soon..._

* * *

An hour was the remaining time she had left. Unexpectedly, the fourth and fifth target had been easy to catch and find. The fourth one had been fast like a cheetah, Sora even had a hard time trying to catch up to her. Sadly, the target was immediately knocked out when a frustrated Sora threw her tonfa at the target - a female unfortunately - with full force. Sora was pretty sure that she heard something crack.

The fifth one was slightly more difficult to catch because the prisoner - again another female, an aggressive one - put up a fight to avoid being captured. Sora's right eye had a close call of being ripped out during the fight, due to the metal claws worn by the prisoner. She managed to subdue the vicious female by slamming her tonfa into the female's chest. Again, another crack.

Her body was covered in wounds and her jacket was torn in various places. Regretfully, Sora didn't bring any bandages and her jacket will be in tatters if she ripped it any more. She needed to pass this third phase quickly and take a long rest to make up for her lack of sleep this past few days, hopefully increasing her recovery speed.

That was her plan at least before she slumped down to the ground.

' _This is bad_ '

Sora groaned, irritated when she nearly didn't have any energy to stand up. She wasn't even sure if she could walk. And running seemed to be impossible. The energy sucker depleted more energy than she speculated.

And she still has one more prisoner to catch.

The sounds of new footsteps alert her for the incoming prisoner. Sora looked at a cloaked figure at the other end of the corridor and steadied herself to the wall, preparing herself to throw the dart with every ounce of the energy she had left.

But something was weird.

The prisoner, who has caught sight of her is the one that was approaching, not the opposite. Also, they didn't show any movement of fleeing from her. Noticing this, Sora put her guard up and eyed the figure warily.

The figure stopped right in front of her and Sora threw out her arm to stab the prisoner with the dart.

The figure's hand caught her wrist easily before applying pressure to her injured wrist and almost conveniently, her dominant hand. Almost instantly, the dart fell off.

' _Shit, I completely forgot it hasn't fully healed yet_ ' Sora gritted her teeth angrily.

"You should take better care of yourself, Sora," The figure spoke softly while releasing her wrist.

"How do you know my name?" Sora frowned darkly. He chuckled as he pulled his hood back, revealing a pair of blue eyes with messy dark green hair.

"It's me, Arios."

* * *

Sora has been travelling for a while after she left the custody of her guardian. Of course, she had mentioned to him that she would be taking the Hunter Exam when she was old enough. And boy, she kind of missed him during her wandering. How he would cover for her after she went on her spree, scolding her when she came back with bruises and cuts because of her escape. Even teaching her how to cook. The latter she found quietly amusing.

The girl mentally shook her head.

Now is not the time to think of her happy memories. She needed to deal with the prisoner who seemed to know her.

"Do I know you?"

The teen boy chuckled again and Sora saw something flash in his eyes. Amusement and worry. What's there to feel amuse for? And worried for what?

"Well yes, of course."

Questions ran through her head. Sora tried to recall if she had met him somewhere before but to no avail. He can't be one of the Hunter who tried to capture her before, right? Or is he a secret Examiner? Or maybe the victim of one of her burning spree and tried to get revenge? She eliminated the first question and chose to ponder the second and third questions. Her hand gripped her tonfa tightly but no strength was there to lift it.

''Why did you tell your comrade to lure me with fire? Aren't you supposed to help him?" Sora asked the questions that have been nagging her.

"You needed something to lash out on after not burning anything for days, right?" He replied smoothly and easily as if he was talking about the weather.

Right, that wasn't something that is supposed to be known to public. The prisoner is dangerous to know that information. He couldn't be possibly neither a Hunter or a victim. Then who?

Sora inhaled sharply when the figure inched closer and whispered something in her ear.

"It has been a while, _Aym_."

With that, her sclera turned black.

* * *

 **And that ends chapter 10, I'm sorry if it seemed very crappy and very short. It's been a while since I last wrote. I didn't steal the eye thingy from Tokyo Ghoul if you wonder. There will be explanation later and besides, those kinds of eyes are cool xD**

 **Umm...I hope this chapter satisfy you?**

 **And regarding the character Sora was slightly inspired by, some people have guessed it correctly. He is Hibari Kyōya from Katekyo Hitman Reborn.**

 **While about the reason Sora could resist the poison, it doesn't have any connection to flames actually xD.**

 **Here are the hints:**  
 **1\. It was in one of someone's fight in early chapters (you know who)**  
 **2\. Think of her name meaning.**  
 **3\. Determination**

 **That should be enough :3**

 **Review my reviewers:**

NekoNyapii **: Thank you so much And I'm glad I got your interest at peak :D Well the anime was correct but unfortunately not the reason, flames in KHR doesn't have any connection to this unfortunately xD but I like your reasoning :3**

Stellar Nymph **: Yep, you are correct :D her name is purposely not made to match Hibari's name. Some of his resolve yes.**

Keelan1210 **: Yes I will change their age and nope, she doesn't have Sun flames or flames in KHR xD**

Crazywordsmith **: Thank you so much for your compliment ^^ and yes they'll be around 16-17 years old at Chimera Ant arc. I'll try to write them more badass xD**

Guest **: Thank you for your review and I hope you enjoy this chap :D**

 **Thank you so much for all of those who have reviewed, favorite, and follow. I mean look at that amount (OwO) Honestly, I'm shock and beyond happy ^^**

 **And to** ellaur-san **, her previous pen name** Mayagi **, thank you for betaing my chapter. I don't know what I would do without you :O**

 **To say sorry for my lack of updates and activeness in here, I'll open a Q &A section in the next chapter. There will still be story with Q&A at the end.**

 **So, send in questions guys (** **｡** **'w** **'** **｡** **) You can ask weird things or general things about me, Sora and the story itself. Beware of slight spoilers though :3**

 **Hopefully I'll be able to update soon**

 **Don't forget to click the buttons below *points downward***

 **And be sure to pay attention to the cover from now on ;) You may find something if you do**

 **Bye then!**


	11. Chapter 11

It was as if the incident seven years ago was being replayed.

Sora stood among the leftovers of what used to be her sanctuary. Jagged pieces of wood stuck out from the ground, still glowing red with embers. Crooked metals littered the grounds, the mere remains of the structure before.

The soft breeze scattered thousands of red sparks into the blood red sky. Ashes showered the land, tendrils of black coiled around in the air.

Sora could even feel the same throbbing pain from her chest and arm where she had been injured. Even the feelings she felt back then came rushing through her. Awe, delight, amazement. All of them were mixed up inside.

But there is only one thing that was different.

Sora stared at an unconscious man -no older than eighteen by his looks -leaning to a burnt wall, surprisingly strong enough to hold his weight. Fire flickered dangerously close to his body and she observed that chains were wrapped around his ankles and wrist.

The girl sucked in a deep shaky breath when she noticed something. The man looked eerily similar to her. Too similar she could say. One could easily mistake him as her older brother or the male version of her.

 _Who is he?_

As if the man heard her thought, his eyes suddenly snapped open. Blood red eyes clashed themselves with a pair of orange eyes. Abruptly, the fire around him blazed out, licking nearby wooden framework.

The man smirked and Sora instinctively took a step back at that. She knew that smirk. The smirk she always felt at the back of her mind. The smirk who belonged to the same entity within her.

"Why are you moving back?

Even that voice. The voice who has been taunting her for years until she shut it off. The voice who mingled with her in madness.

"I won't hurt you."

"Don't be scared."

Sora scowled darkly as the man continued to watch her with his red eyes, amusement dancing in them. She wouldn't believe him, not even in a thousand years. It _was_ a mistake to trust him.

The man shrugged lightly.

"You can't change the past."

Sora's scowl deepened at the fact the man could read her thoughts.

"Well, you are inside my area after all.''

The girl opened her mouth to snap back at him, only to realize that nothing came out of her mouth. Eyes wide in shock, Sora watched cautiously as the man slowly rose, chains rattled as they hit each other. Black has replaced the white of his eyes.

"Which means that you are not allowed to talk back to me."

Pain is the next thing she felt as a hand closes itself around her throat. The scar reacted and a pain much worse than before coursed through her body. Sora gritted her teeth as the man tightened his grip around her throat, grinning darkly.

 **Let's get this over with.**

* * *

Aym stretched out and grinned when he felt a satisfying 'pop' around his stiff shoulders. After being trapped for a really long time, this is the first time he came out.

"Hey there brother," a deep and slightly hoarse voice left Sora's mouth. Aym smirked when the other male beamed happily.

"Aym, it has been a while!"

As he said that, his whole appearance changed. His hair and eyes all turned to purple and somewhat wavy, skin got a little darker, white sclera to black. A complete transformation.

"Going around deceiving people again, I assume?" Aym mused.

His transformation has never ceased to amuse him even after watching it for hundreds of years. The Shifter had modified his appearance and identity so often that Aym lost count. Female. Male. Adult. Child. Old. Young. He shifted into anything and everything.

'Arios' merely grinned in response.

Aym stood up and picked up the fallen dart laying not far from there. He might as well finish the task Sora was given. After all, he inhabited her body now, putting up a facade as her will be enough.

"Now Arios," Aym frowned visibly. He could never get used to calling him different names. "I would love to stay and chat with you but," Aym tapped the watch around his wrist, "time is ticking."

The purple haired man sighed and smiled teasingly.

"Despite trying to take control over her body, you have soft spot for the girl, huh?"

Aym sneered and swiftly walked past Arios, stabbing him at his shoulder as he passed by. The Shifter gasped as he grabbed his chest in fake hurt. Aym rolled his eyes as he waited for any announcement.

"Drama queen."

"You hurt my feelings, Aym."

Aym stuck his tongue out childishly before immediately turning serious.

"To answer your question, no, I don't have any soft spots for— don't give me that damn look, Arios," Aym glared at the smirking man.

"Then what?"

"Just like I said before, it's for a facade."

"Lies~"

Aym opted not to answer.

Arios' smirk gradually disappeared as he grew serious for the first time with him.

"Hey Aym, when you meet others..." He hesitated for a bit before he continued. "Be careful, they...haven't really forgotten about what you have done."

Aym stayed quiet before he nodded, silently thanking the other male for his warnings. It was good enough that Arios was on his side. He couldn't possibly ask for more.

"I'll keep that in mind."

Not too long after, a chime resounded inside the labyrinth and Arios was swallowed by the abyss, not before sending Aym another teasing smirk, having already changed to his usual demeanor along with his other appearance.

"Congratulations, you have succeeded in capturing all the mouses in this game, you may proceed to the next room,'' the announcement said.

As soon as the announcement was finished, the ground beneath his feet began to rumble. Walls started to sink down, the room steadily getting brighter and brighter. After a while, the labyrinth was no more, instead an empty space replaced it. Aym now could see a metal door on the other side of the room.

The male looked at the his watch.

Currently, he still has sixty two hours and eight minutes.

Aym made his way to door, eager to finish the phase as soon as possible.

Of course it wouldn't be that easy. Right after he stepped his foot out of the door, an axe swung past him, barely missing his leg.

 _Holy shit_

* * *

Sora desperately clawed at the hand that was gripping her throat. She had recently discovered—with a barely functioning mind—that her weapon was gone. No option to use them and kicks obviously had no effect on him. So, Sora resorted to clawing at him.

Furthermore the throbbing scar only helped to worsen the situation.

"No use struggling, hmm~"

Black danced merrily around her vision, the girl felt her consciousness slipping away. She wouldn't be able to hold on much longer and for that she needed a plan.

Weakly, Sora mustered all her energy to injure him before her body fell limp. Blood dripped down from her hands, both from causing the wounds on the man's hand and her own injuries, forming a small puddle on the ground.

Aym tilted his head to the side when the girl stopped moving. Releasing his grip from her throat, Aym frowned in distaste as he watched her crumple to the ground like a fallen leaf.

The girl was weak and this was merely the first phase. Though the girl succeeded in harming him, it wasn't enough to stop him. Aym grinned darkly.

A complete domination would commence.

Aym moved to walk away when something grabbed his ankle and dug their nails to it, followed by painful coughs.

"I'm not done yet."

A raspy voice said, which was not his own.

The male blinked in surprise. She wasn't supposed to be able to speak. A smirk appeared on his pale face.

This is going to be interesting.

* * *

Fifty hours and four minutes.

Aym couldn't believe that he had been running and dodging traps for twelve hours straight. More cuts and wounds littered the body. Part of his energy was used to restrain the other soul that was struggling wildly to break free. Unfortunately, there was a time difference between the two dimensions. A few minutes would be hours in real life. That means the fight could be longer.

"Stubborn girl," He scoffed when he felt another wave of pain. The girl had been putting up a fierce fight. Bit by bit, his power and energy was being drained.

That problem aside, Aym in front of a metal door. Written on the screen upon the door, was a question.

"Proceed? O or X."

It was the same question as before.

Frowning, Aym pressed the 'O' button on his watch. He wasn't going to rack his brain to answer this kind of question. Quietly, the door creaked open like before.

Is it supposed to be this easy? The male thought, faintly remembering that Sora faced this kind of question.

What goes beyond the door is a really big dark room like a fighting arena. Aym casually stepped inside. Automatically, the door closed by itself. The male blinked blankly. It's not like he should be afraid of anything.

"Welcome to the second part of the phase! Here, you are tasked to defeat all the prisoners,'' Lippo explained from a speaker

"However, if you fail to defeat all of them in one hour, twenty hours of the time you have left over will be taken, good luck!" With that, the speaker crackled off. Silence filled the room until a rumble sounded from the distance.

The walls slowly opened, opening its mouth like a door and prisoners came in like ants. There were at least a hundred of them, Aym counted. That was quite an amount.

Most of the prisoners looked shock seeing a young girl—well supposed to look like—was the one that was supposed to defeat them. Some of them even had the nerve to laugh.

"Hey little girl, why don't you go back and try again next year? You'll only end up dead at this rate," One of the prisoners mocked, clearly underestimating.

Aym tilted his head to the side as a sinister grin broke free on his face. Eyes wild in anticipation and craze, the male looked darkly at them, causing nearly all of them to back away in fear.

"Hmm~? I wonder about that," Aym said cheerfully, killer intent oozing with full force, and landed gracefully on one of the prisoner shoulders.

 _W-when did she?_

Immediately, fire sparked alive on his hands and he slammed his hand to the prisoner's face. A scream full of agony filled the room before the prisoner dropped dead to the floor.

Aym smiled in delight and pounced to the nearest person who quivered in fear. The man met the same fate as the previous one.

Looking at the next victim, Aym continued to smile while tilting his head, both sclera and eyes darkening.

"Let's have some fun~"

 _Slam. Burn. Slam. Burn_

That process continued on until a prisoner was brave enough and sent Aym crashing to a wall by throwing him over when he landed on the prisoner's shoulder. Seeing this, other prisoners followed suit and began to attack him.

Aym scoffed, having recovered quickly, and dodged any incoming barrages of attacks which is many. Around eighty people. He was literally dancing in the air now.

Time to use it then.

The male rubbed his hand together in the midst of a somersault. The flames in his hands grew bigger and hotter. Even Aym grimaced at the hotness.

Prisoners could only watched in terror as the maroon haired male slammed both of his hands to the ground.

A white conflagration erupted in the room. Screams of pains were simply a melody to his ears. Smells of burnt meat hit his nose while the male surveyed the room for any survivors which was highly unlikely.

A movement was caught in the corner of his eyes. There was indeed a survivor.

Another movement was briefly seen. Seems like there were more than one.

Slowly, the fire died out. Aym was astonished to see at least ten of them were still alive and barely injured. His skills were getting rusty after not being sharpened for years. Oh well he could think about it later.

"Heh, all of you are still alive? And after so much energy I poured into that last attack,'' Aym said brightly while approaching them. He was going to end this soon.

A burning pain from his chest stopped him in his tracks. At first, he was going to ignore it but moderately it got worse. It was as if he was being burned from inside. Aym clutched his chest while groaning in pain.

 _Something was happening there._

* * *

Sora panted as her attacks continued to get deflected. The girl was down on one knee, trying to regain her lost energy. An angry vein popped out of her forehead when her opponent appeared to have no real trouble deflecting her. Instead he seemed to be enjoying it.

"Is that all you've got?" Aym teased her, crouching down in front of her. He even had the nerve to pet her head which Sora quickly batted away.

"I'm not a child," She hissed.

"You are to me."

Sora gave him a headbutt in reply that hit him on his chin. Still no sign of pain. An exasperated sigh left her mouth. Was there nothing she could do? She obviously couldn't ask for any help in here.

 _Well, I could help you_

A sharp voice reached her ears, startling her. Sora looked back up to face Aym but he didn't seem to hear it.

"Giving up?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. Sora scowled as she looked around to find the source of the voice.

 _I'll end it for you but only this time_

Again, the voice sounded. She could detect a hint of annoyance in its tone, seemingly displeased at what it's going to do. Sora frowned, not exactly trusting the voice.

A white hand materialized in thin air and stabbed Aym from the back, through his chest. The said male looked beyond shock, seeing a hand emerging from his chest and was currently poking Sora's cheek with a bloody finger.

Even the girl looked stunned.

Aym smiled wryly when blood slid down from the corner of his mouth. His plan has been put to halt. Why would **it** choose to help now? He wondered.

The hand withdrew itself from his chest and vanished without warning, as if it hadn't just stabbed a man then poked a girl's cheek. The stabbed male deliberately faded but he wasn't even concerned by it. It wasn't as if he was going to die anyway.

Sora snapped out from her stunned state and looked at the fading male in bewilderment. What the hell just happened? A hand appeared out of nowhere, stabbed Aym, poked her cheek and disappeared. So much happened in a short time.

Aym smiled in amusement, watching her visibly confused expression. She looked like a lost child. The male hummed lightly, grabbing the girl's attention.

"I'll be back~"

And Sora blacked out.

* * *

And now Sora was standing in an unfamiliar room with traces of fire. A rare colored one too. White. Burnt corpses littered the ground and a group of hooded figures were standing not far from her, clearly shaken by something. What had Aym done when he was taking control?

Countless questions ran through her brain. Questions regarding the hand, strange voice, first phase of something, the burning place, Aym being chained, etc. Now that Sora thought of it, that was the first time Aym had taken control of her body. Possessed seemed to be the correct term.

Sora frowned. Gosh, what was happening to her?

While she was busy mulling over her thoughts, the prisoners realized the sudden change of intent from the girl. She no longer held the burning killer intent and looked rather harmless now.

In unison, the prisoners nodded at each other and began their attacks. There's no telling what this girl would do. They should take this chance when she was distracted.

Meanwhile, Sora was too deep in thoughts to notice their intention. That was until a fist was a few centimeters from her face. She raised her tonfa swiftly on reflex.

The girl jumped back to make a safe distance from them. She needed to fight them, Sora speculated in her mind. At one side she dreaded the idea to fight them but on other side, she was glad she could use her tonfa to fight unlike when she was being trapped. She had no choice either way. Better end this quickly.

After being attacked by ten people at once, Sora managed to defeat them within the time limit, not that she was aware of it.

Panting lightly, she was sure her appearance was more disheveled than usual. Blood splattered her cheek which she wiped it off. Sora frowned at the blood stain on her white tee. She shouldn't have used the spikes on her tonfa.

"You have passed the second part of the phase, you may proceed with your path," the announcement voiced out.

Retracting the spikes and wiping all the blood off from her weapons, Sora continued on without further ado. Briefly, she pondered why her body ached so much.

* * *

Sora grumbled incoherent words as she sat inside a metal box. The question is how did she end up inside?

After she left the room, more traps sprung out and now even beasts were included. A horde of snakes would have bitten her leg off if she hadn't dashed away. Then tiles that fell off after she stepped on it, forcing her to sprint.

Continuing, Sora had to jumped into one of the three holes which one of them would immediately brought her to the exit. Unfortunately, she chose the wrong one and now she was forced to spent twenty hours in a metal box after falling straight to it.

The metal wouldn't make a dent even after being kick, hit and slammed with tonfa.

"Ah damn it." Sora messed up her hair in frustration. She hated being caged up since it made her felt that she lost her freedom. To a certain extent, her current situation was true.

Sora closed her eyes and leaned her back to the wall. Might as well restore her energy by resting. After all, being violent wouldn't solve anything.

Twenty hours quickly passed, the girl was back on her feet and ready to continue her journey. She couldn't believe she had slept for twenty hours straight. Previously, seventeen hours was her record. She had set a new record for herself. Sora cheered for herself mentally.

Thirty four hours and twelve minutes. She still has a good amount of time left.

Rapidly, she left the room the box was in and she immediately met the love of her life, traps!

Seriously, couldn't she have time to walk in peace?

* * *

Sora cheered loudly when she was face to face with another door. Finally, happy news. There were words on the screen.

"This is the last part of this path. A question will appear every minute. There will be a total of ten questions. If you fail to answer the question within the time limit, five hour of your time will be taken."

...Well she still has thirty hours so nothing could go wrong. At least, Sora hoped so.

"Questions number one, Chairman Netero is the Chairman of Hunter Association. O or X?"

Sora hadn't expected a true or false question. A walking encyclopedia would be fit for answering these kinds of questions. She sure wished Kurapika was here. Fortunately, the first one was easy.

A cheerful beep resounded inside the room when Sora chose 'O'.

"Question number two, currently, there are a total of 651 Hunters. O or X?"

Sora cursed loudly. This was only the second question and it was already this hard. How is she supposed to know this?!

Pressing the 'O' button, an inhuman screech blasted out. Her time was quickly reduced to twenty five hours.

The girl shakily uncovered her hands that closed her ears. Good thing her reflex saved her or else she would have gone deaf. She paled. The consequences of choosing the wrong answer were harsh.

"Question number three, Yorknew city is located in country of Sahelta, Yorbian Continent."

Sora knew this much. It's a common knowledge after all. 'O' button was pressed. A beep.

"Question number four, aura is similar to steam. O or X?"

She wanted to bang her head to the wall. Since the last incorrect answer she had before was 'O', the 'X' was chosen. No harm trying. In her imagination, aura appeared as a transparent clothing. Maybe the answer would be correct?

Another inhuman screech.

Sora massaged her temple in displeasure. You learned new things every day.

Question by question appeared and her time was downed to ten hours. Sora heaved a sigh in relief when the last question appeared. Even the last answer was wrong, she would still have five hours.

"Last question, would Applicant #210 have to stay in this room for another twenty hours? O or X?"

A beep was heard when Sora chose 'O'.

"Congratulations, you have passed the last part of the phase. Have fun spending your twenty hours."

Sora felt the mockery from those words as she repeatedly yet lightly bashed her head to the wall.

* * *

"Sora, applicant #210 is the fourteenth to pass. Total time, sixty-two hours and three minutes."

Sora briskly walked to an empty spot, ignoring all the stares that was drawn to her and quietly sat down. Her bloodstained shirt and ripped jacket must have attracted attention.

"Gon and Killua aren't here yet," Sora muttered worriedly, eyes continuously darting between the stone door. She thought they had arrived earlier than her but apparently she was mistaken.

Time flew quickly until only three minutes remained. Yet there were no signs of Gon and others. Sora nervously bit her nails in anticipation and anxiety. Where are they?

She paid no attention to the guy who arrived only to die on spot.

"One minute remains."

"Looks like it'll only be the twenty of us here." Sora heard one of the three brothers say. From a distance, she could see Hisoka smirking about something.

Sora sincerely prayed that they would make it in time. But her worry was short-lived.

A door slowly lifted itself opened as three pair of feet stepped out from the tunnel.

Her eyes widened in shock and happiness as she quickly stood up from her seat seeing the familiar faces.

"Kurapika, applicant #404 is the twenty first to pass. Killua, applicant #99 is the twenty second to pass. Gon, applicant #405 is the twenty third to pass. Total time, seventy one hours and fifty nine minutes."

All the three boys were covered in bruises and dirt.

"My butt hurts…" Killua complained childishly. "I didn't expect a slide for the short and easy path."

"That was really close." Gon said to Kurapika. The blonde smiled tiredly as he held up his hands.

"My hands are covered with blisters," the male said.

"Same here," A voice croaked out from behind them. It was Leorio and Tonfa who was busy elbowing each other.

"Leorio, applicant #403, is the twenty-fourth to pass. Tonpa, applicant #16 is the twenty fifth to pass. Total time, seventy one hours and fifty nine minutes."

"My hands are blistered, but all five of us cleared the tower together. All thanks to Gon." Leorio said, grinning while ruffing Gon's hair.

Sora, who was silently watching their interactions from afar, smiled warmly at the sight. She couldn't just simply barge in and destroy their moment.

"Sora!"

That was until she heard Gon's voice calling her. She blinked in surprise and saw Gon waving his hand at her, urging her to join them. The girl's smile widened a bit before she jogged lightly to them.

"I was worried you guys wouldn't make it," Sora spoke. Gon only rubbed the back of his head, smiling brightly.

"But we made it, so you didn't have to worry!" Gon said cheerfully. Sora sighed and pat his head, still smiling.

"Whatever you say Gon."

Sora was suddenly aware of the piercing stares given by the other three members of the group, Tonpa not included.

A hand touched her neck lightly and Sora flinched in pain.

"You've got bruises around your neck," Killua commented as he applied pressure to one of the bruises. The injured girl winced in pain as she backed away from Killua's hand, a bit flustered.

"Not to mention, you are covered with wounds," Kurapika added. Leorio had already begun bandaging her left arm and palms.

"I'm fine, you don't need to tend the wounds, Leorio," Sora said, moving her right arm away when Leorio was preparing to fold up her jacket.

"I insist," the older male replied. But the girl kept refusing and the man kept pestering until she promised she would tend all of her wounds herself. A roll of fresh bandages was given along with a ruffle on the head.

"Is that your blood?" Killua pointed at her bloody shirt. Sora shook her head.

"Nope." She didn't elaborate any further.

The white haired boy frowned. It wasn't hard to guess. Sora had definitely killed someone and she wasn't afraid to show that she did with the way she let her bloody shirt show. Killua smirked. She would be a fun puzzle to crack.

"The third phase is now over with twenty-six applicants passing! One has died," the announcement said.

Finally, after being trapped for seventy-two hours inside the stuffy tower, the door leading to the outside world was opened. Bright sunlight showered the circular room as applicants slowly stepped out of the room.

Sora shielded her eyes from the light she hasn't not been seeing for days. Soft breeze tickled her cheek as she cracked her neck, smiling. She's nearly done with the exam!

 _I'm back~_

And Aym was back.

* * *

 **And Arios is not even his real name xD**

 **Whew this was a long chapter. Since no one asked any question, I decided to make this chap longer. I'm sorry for updating really late after my promise of updating every two weeks. Since I'm in my last year of my junior high school, exams were just around the corner and I need to focus studying. So I'm sorry beforehand.**

 **Oh yeah, you have never seen how Sora looked like, right? I tried to draw her but this is only the chibi version. I'll try to draw her full version later.**

 **Link:**

 **: / / medibang picture / zd 1701312144135960002272833?c p i = 002**

 **Just erase the spaces!**

 **So no one attempted to answer again xD I'll just give you the answer now.**

 **Remember during Hibari's fight when he was poisoned by a poison that was able to make a wild elephant paralyze? Hibari managed to gain a bit control of his body when others couldn't by his strong hate towards being bound by anything. And so, the mind has effect toward the body and Sora was similar, though in lesser degree.**

 **Second, her name means 'Sky' and sky always stretches far until our eyes couldn't see the edge. So to me, sky is vast and boundless. Never caged by anything and free.**

 **Well I hope the answers and explanation makes sense? XD**

 **Answering your reviews:**

Keelan1210 **: I'm not giving cliffhanger at this chapter xD**

Title Unwanted **: Be sure to always wait for new chapters :3**

Luna **: Same here~**

EvilSquirrelFans **: I was worried you didn't have any account here But I'm glad you did :D Stay tuned always~**

Guest **: Thanks for reading**

Justin **: I'll be sure to keep that in mind xD**

lilnightmare17 **: Thanks! Be sure to wait for more chapters~**

 **Thank you so much for the reviews, favorites and follows from the last chapter. It made my days.**

 **Don't forget to click the buttons below~**

 **See you at the next chapter!**


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